First of all, I think recovery groups work miracles for many people. I have seen many people achieve and maintain sobriety in groups like NA and AA. I have no problem with the recovery groups and I often use the principles I learned in them in ministry and counseling. It is a great tool. That is what recovery groups are; they are a tool. Just like any tool, they do not work in every situation. In other words, what works for one person may not work for another. It is important to have several tools in your toolbelt, especially in sobriety.
Before I moved to Arizona, my attendance to recovery groups started slowing down due to COVID 19 and my dislike of the virtual versions of the meetings. Even before that, I never was able to form deep relationships with people in those groups. They constantly were together, and I would only know because of social media. Everybody else was having a blast in recovery, where I was still lonely. When I moved to Idaho from Arizona, I there were scarce meetings available near me. This made it hard to go. On top of that, I had my sponsor encouraging me to go more often, but it was not a possibility due to working full-time as a Youth Pastor and working part time as a Case Manager/Counseling Intern as well as trying to make time for self-care and quality time with my wife. Over time, I started becoming distant from my sponsor.
I had realized, I, personally, do not need recovery meetings anymore to maintain my sobriety. This is rarely the case, and I would advise against it to anybody who got sober with recovery meetings. They offer amazing support. My problem was that throughout my career in recovery meetings, I noticed I was always at a different spot and on a different page than my sponsors. I had a BS in Psychology and a BA in Christian Studies, and I have been working on my Master in Addiction Counseling. Often times, the only advice I was offered was to go to meetings when I needed more substance whether about mental health or spirituality. In the end, I realized that I knew most of the answers, but I needed to apply them. I needed to practice what I preached. As one who diligently studies and preaches Scripture, I know the spiritual answers I am looking for, and if I don’t, I pray and study more. As one who is studying about addiction and helping facilitate addiction recovery groups, I know the psychology and coping skills to maintain sobriety. What I lack is just putting into action the things I know. I have to be intentional when it comes to my recovery.