Yes and I got another sponsor.
Go find one. I find its important to be sponsored; and to sponsor. And your post reminded me I need to make an improvement in my program too:-)

My sponsor just fired his sponsor. He was an asshole n

It's funny. I sometimes act like a sponsor to my sponsor.

It works.

Tonight was my first Smart Recovery meeting. It was extremely helpful. I liked it quite a bit and left the meeting really enthusiastic about my sobriety.It may be a better fit for me than the 12 step program. I'll keep you posted. Again thanks to all of you here at the D.S.

Please tell us more about your experience with a Smart Recovery meeting. What are the main differences and similarities between SR and AA? I have been participating in this DS discussion group for 5 months now and I have yet to hear anything about SR, but a whole lot about AA.

Glad you found SMART Recovery. I hope you find it to be a useful program and group.

Buck, you might want to ask that question about SMART on Alcohol Recovery without 12 steps. Several members there have been trained as SMART meeting facilitators. The meeting facilitation training is one difference with AA and also a reason why there aren't as many meetings.

EJG,

I guess I wanted to hear from someone who is not trained or already indoctrinated into a particular approach. Sort of a fresh perspective.

I've been going to 12 step meetings for about 4 years and have attended only 1 Smart Recovery meeting. I'm sober over 2 years. The major difference I notice is that A.A. teaches you that you are an alcoholic as part of who you are as a person. Smart Recovery teaches you that your addictive behavior is a behavior which you have the power to modify through cognitive therapy.This week will be a mix of both meetings. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for the update. How does the cognitive therapy work?

I applaud any program that keeps you moving toward sober.
That was the main thing when I tried to quit million times, I would just sit and obsess about the thing i was missing ( booze ) . It was all i concentrated on and was not happy. today i get into action. Today i try to improve me just a little bit every day. I try to be a better person and threfore not have to self mutilate with alcohol. I really enjoyed being miserable.. it was stupid.

but if i drink it starts all over again so some sober friends and a program is my life boat

1is2many

Cognitive therapy is the study of mental function. Once you see how your mind works you can change unwanted behaviors.

I've attended a few SMART meetings and have seen a lot of their material. It's useful :) The meetings themselves...hence peer support...are not always as strong as they could be :)

CBT and REBT...the science of understanding your thinking and changing your behaviour...work well for some people. Deserves to be said though, for some people they don't work so well.. perhaps where there are underlying emotional issues or where the behaviour is deeply entrenched...who's to say? :)

It's good there are lots of avenues to walk down. Would be interested to hear how you go Kookoobrutus...I wish there were more people using SMART Recovery who were willing to share their experience and describe how it's helped them with long term recovery :)

P