Working With Others Can Be a Part of Recovery
“Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics,” reads The Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous in the chapter titled “Working With Others” before describing the twelfth step. The twelfth step of Alcoholics Anonymous reads: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Thematically, the twelfth step is about “carrying the message” and working with other people.
Peer support in recovery is what founded recovery when the founders of AA discovered their cravings for alcohol were helped by talking about alcoholism, as well as sobriety, with another alcoholic. Working with others is a way to give it away in order to keep it. People in recovery do seem to keep it by giving it away.
Social work researchers in Texas analyzed data from a network of peer recovery coaches who worked with other addicts and alcoholics in recovery. Of the over one thousand people in recovery who worked with a peer recovery coach for at least twelve months, over eighty percent of them maintained their abstinence or at least reduced their substance use.
Recovery Coach’s and Sponsor’s Can Bring You Many Benefits
A peer recovery coach is different from a typical sponsor or even someone who supports another in recovery. As states face the startling numbers of the opioid epidemic, they are creating certification processes to empower recovering addicts to empower other addicts.
For this particular study, the peer recovery coaches had completed 46 hours of training and certification. In terms of money, the payoff of working with others was made obvious.
A seventy-four percent reduction in health care costs between when they enrolled and twelve months after when they enrolled- which equates to millions of dollars.
“Life will take on new meaning,” The Big Book explains. “To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends- this is an experience you must not miss.” It emphasizes: “Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.”
Working with a sponsor is part of the recovery process. Learning to trust in someone who has more experience in recovery is a growing practice in treatment. A sponsor takes you through the twelve steps, working through the first one hundred and sixty four pages of The Big Book.
By the twelfth step, the person being sponsored is ready to sponsor others and take them through the steps. Working with others continues to pay off because it continues to pay recovery forward.
Lakehouse Recovery Center utilizes recovery and non-recovery focused activities. For our twelve step activities, we regularly host panels and on-site meetings which often take place cruising around Lake Sherwood on our boat. Call us today for information on our residential treatment programs, detox, and 12 month aftercare services: 877.762.3707