When an individual decides to seek help for an addiction issue, it is often suggested that they find a sponsor and ‘work the steps.’
Recovery support groups have helped many people who struggle with addiction find freedom and peace. Many of these groups follow a 12-step model, which includes sponsorship. A sponsor is someone who has experience in recovery, has worked through the full 12-step program, and has the willingness and ability to be a role model and mentor for others. If you’re in a 12-step program, it’s very important to connect with a sponsor to help you work through the steps.
Whether an individual is using the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book or the Narcotics Anonymous book, they will need another person to guide them. These books contain instructions on how to work the steps. Just as a teacher or professor would help you study your math textbook, a sponsor will help you study your program’s basic text. The steps seem simple enough, so why, you may wonder, do you need help? Because the brain in early recovery is not quite trustworthy.
People in early recovery find that they cannot yet trust their thought processes. The mind is easily distracted, bored, and restless, and it usually loves to engage in negative or fantastical thinking. A sponsor can help you check your thoughts. When you share what you’re thinking and how it’s making you want to behave, a sponsor can help you slow down and evaluate what is real and what is not real. A sponsor will help you learn to recognize dangerous thoughts and how to steer away from them.
A sponsor should be someone that you can be completely honest with and feel comfortable sharing your life story with. As you work through the steps together, you’ll find that having a person that you can trust, who has no motive other than helping you find the freedom and life you seek, is priceless.
Contact us today if you or your loved one is ready to reach out for help. We can start you on the road to recovery.