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Hello friends, I'm brand new to ACA and joined this forum to add another spoke to my wheel of support. I grew up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father, a codependent mother, and a younger brother with significant mental health/addiction struggles.
I'm 3 years in recovery from substance use myself, in a program that focuses on Buddhist principles and meditation to heal from addiction. Step-based programs have been a poor fit for me in the past but I finally feel like I have a solid recovery foundation and ACA will help build upon it. It's been 3 weeks since my first meeting and I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed... there are so many lists! So many steps! All the different meeting topics & formats have left me unclear on where to begin. On top of that, I've been having a hard time finding beginner-focused meetings that work with my schedule (and figuring out which meetings I can access over Zoom in these unprecedented times). I know I need to be patient and give it time. So I'm glad to be here and I hope I can "learn the ropes" a bit as well.
At the top of this page we have a Newcomers Quick Start Guide that you may find helpful. It can be overwhelming at first; I suggest baby steps!!
I had an alcoholic Father and Stepfather and a Narcissistic Mother. Mental health issues, suicide, etc. run through my family. I only communicate with my older Stepbrother to maintain my own serenity.
Here we say, "Take What You Like And Leave The Rest" (TWYLALTR). If the Steps don't work for you, that's fine! I have used different tools at different times in my recovery. We're here to support each other in our journey....
We have a chat meeting at 7:00 pm on Tuesdays. There are other chat, telephone, and Zoom meetings listed on the ACA World Service Organization site at https://adultchildren.org/meeting-search/.
Please let Co-Moderators mamalioness or me know if you have any questions!
