Together we are stronger

VetChange is a free and confidential online self-management program for active duty military and veterans who are concerned about their drinking following military deployment. It can help you to build skills to better manage your drinking and PTSD symptoms. Visit vetchange.org to learn more about your alcohol use and develop a personalized plan to stop drinking or cut back.

Many people attend recovery meetings as a way to support their recovery journeys. Often, people have some nervous feelings about their first few recovery meetings. Just being willing to show up is a win! Virtual meetings may ease those initial stressful feelings, since you have the option to leave your camera off, which means other people can’t see your face. You can also choose your user name: most people use their first name and location. The way you introduce yourself is based on your comfort level. If you would rather not share anything about yourself, you can put “just listening” in your user name.

When you enter the group, the moderator or another group member will probably greet you by name. This is to make you feel at home. Often, people show up a few minutes early to socialize, check in, and say hello. Although it may seem like the other people in the group already know each other, that’s not necessarily true. The recovery community is supportive and friendly, even with strangers. You may choose to say hello in the chat box or just keep quiet. If you’re invited to take part, feel free to say no: including new people is how many groups try to make them feel like they’re wanted and welcome.

Each group has a different format, but usually there is a greeting, some reading or a short talk by a person in recovery, and time for sharing. Some groups use prayer; others might try a meditation from a particular spiritual book. There are hundreds of recovery communities and thousands of groups to choose from. If you don’t feel welcome in one, keep looking. Many organizations offer directories of their meetings with specific types of groups, such as:

• LGBTQ and trans-specific meetings
• Latinx groups, Indigenous groups, and groups in languages other than English
• Black meetings
• Gender-specific meetings for people who identify as men or women
• Military/veteran specific meetings
• Meetings that use a particular faith tradition or tool, such as “recovering Catholics”
• Speaker meetings, which do not include time for open sharing

Recovery meetings tend to focus on health, wellness, and self care. Group participants usually don’t speak directly to each other, make suggestions, talk politics, or tell each other what to do. The point is to be together, listen, and support one another. After the meeting, the moderator may leave the chat room open for additional socializing. Some members trade contact information. Use your best judgment and be smart about giving out your phone number or email. The same guidelines of “meeting at a party” apply here, too. If you don’t like one meeting, or another group member sounds abrasive or unpleasant, you don’t have to go back! Just move on to the next one until you find a group that resonates with you.

Your recovery is as unique as you are. Try every tool until you discover what works best for you. Whether you find peace of mind on the yoga mat, in a virtual meeting, or helping others, you are sure to discover a recovery community that honors and supports you on this path.

It can be difficult to know how to best support someone in your life that’s in or seeking recovery. See some resources below to learn more about supporting a loved one in recovery:

• Partnership to End Addiction: Being ‘In Recovery’: What Does It Actually Mean?
• Shatterproof: How To Help a Loved One When Addiction Symptoms Recur

Research conducted by the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control indicates that early prevention can positively affect outcomes and steer young people away from developing a substance use disorder.

Who’s Helping: The Hanley Foundation provides substance abuse prevention and education programs for parents, caregivers, and school-age children.

Treatment works in achieving long-term recovery outcomes, and multiple evidence-based approaches to treating addiction are out there.

Who’s Helping: National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) provides leadership, advocacy, training, and member support services to ensure the availability and highest quality of addiction treatment.

In cases where abstinence is not an achievable goal, there are still ways of improving health outcomes and reducing risk.

Who’s Helping: The Harm Reduction Coalition is focused on the implementation of harm reduction policies, practices, and programs that address the adverse effects of drug use including overdose.

Programs such as treatment courts, substance disorder programs in jails and prisons, and Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion.

Who’s Helping: Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) National Support Bureau supports an alternative harm-reduction intervention model in dozens of jurisdictions across the United States.

Supportive, safe, and accountable housing is an essential component of successful recovery.

Who’s Helping: National Alliance of Recovery Residences (NARR) is working to ensure recovery residences are adhering to best practices and are offering safe, suitable housing for their clients.

People in recovery, especially younger ones, benefit from equitable and fair access to education, including recovery high schools and collegiate recovery support.

Who’s Helping: Association of Recovery and Higher Education represents collegiate recovery programs and communities.

Job-readiness training for those in recovery, combined with opportunities to gain stable and gainful employment can further support and empower those in recovery.

Who’s Helping: Foundation for Recovery works not only within its own community of Las Vegas, but also nationwide to promote the concept of recovery-friendly workplaces.

A broad spectrum of services that can be provided through treatment, aftercare, and community-based programs led by behavioral health care providers, peer providers, family members, friends and social networks, the faith community, and people with lived experience in recovery.

Who’s Helping: The Phoenix offers a free sober active community to individuals who have struggled with a substance use disorder and to those who choose a sober life. The Recovery Research Institute is a non-profit research institute dedicated to the advancement of addiction treatment and recovery. National Council for Behavioral Health is committed to all Americans having access to comprehensive, high-quality care that affords every opportunity for recovery. The Wellbriety Movement is an organization that specializes in recovery support for Native American communities.