Seeking teen appropriate AA and/or sober supports
My 16 year old has been at a program where they have attended Teen AA meetings and found them helpful. They will return home in a few weeks and we are looking for local East Bay Teen AA (not young adults), other sober support groups and/or sober social groups. Any specifics or leads welcome.
Oct 23, 2022
Parent Replies
My teen is going through the same thing. She just turned 14 and, after a huge crisis that forced her (and us) to face her year-long addiction to weed (and now alcohol), I ended up taking her to some "young people's" AA meetings in Oakland. There were no teens there, unfortunately. But she did find some young people (early-mid 20s young adults) with whom she connected and she LOVES them. They are warm and loving and kind - and TRUSTWORTHY. They have shown her how to find FUN in sobriety. In fact, they've enveloped her into their circle and she has been thriving. However, she did have a relapse and her other mom then insisted that we put her in a treatment center. IMO, she would've been better off just continuing with AA and working with her sponsor on the steps - for her substance abuse issue, that is. But because there are all of these other issues (cutting, low self-esteem, co-dependence, etc.) I agreed that maybe a residential treatment program might be best.
I am also a recovering alcoholic and weed addict myself, sadly. So I understand what she's going through. When I first got clean & sober I was only 15. At that time (in the late 1980s) I was lucky that there was a large group of teens in the small Sonoma County town where I was living. That was a game-changer for me! They showed me how to live sober - and still have FUN (which was my biggest concern at the time). I have yet to find a group of sober teens who go to AA or MA around here. But I'm still looking! Maybe we should connect and combine our efforts? I would love to learn what you have found in terms of "recovering teens." Contact me via my user name below. And anyone else who's reading this and is going through something similar - let's reach out and support one another!
~Recovering Alcoholic & Weed Addict Mama