12 Step NA & AA Meetings in Newport Beach, CA

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

— The Serenity Prayer

Support can be a critical component of recovery. Communicating with people who can understand your struggle with substance abuse can be a great way to maintain one’s sobriety.

As a person in recovery, there is no better way to find a meaningful support group than attending 12 Step Anon Meetings — whether NA or AA.

Why Alcohol Anonymous 12 Step Meetings Work

Many people in recovery can find therapeutic gain from attending 12-step meetings. This gain can help facilitate and support change in the recovering individual.

Drawing from the Principles and Practice of Group Work in Addiction by Rober Hill and Jennifer Harris, we find the following benefits from group support:

• Identification — Being able to identify with others who are going through a similar struggle brings self-awareness and can reduce the shame and guilt that can often be associated with addiction. This produces self-acceptance that can be hugely important for meaningful change in one’s life.
• Catharsis — Listening to group members, compassionately understanding their issues, and sharing one’s own experiences can help those in recovery release from their pent-up feelings. Rather than shut off emotions in isolation, 12-step groups allow one to openly express themselves and process their emotions associated with addiction.
• Social Skills — The opportunity to both listen and share allows people to experience healthy and helpful behaviors that can translate to everyday life. Years of relying on drugs can dampen social skills, making one feel rejected and inadequate in certain situations. At 12-Step meetings, openness and understanding allow one to share more freely and build social skills.
• Altruism — One principle of 12-step meetings is to help others without the expectation of reward. Helping others in the group, perhaps sponsoring them, can provide meaning in one’s own life. This purpose can make the recovery process much more enjoyable and meaningful. It can help build moral virtues such as honesty, humility, courage, compassion, and integrity.
• Wisdom — 12-step groups offer coping strategies to not only deal with cravings but to deal with everyday life problems. The serenity prayer is a great general example of this. The intrinsic look on life and self-responsibility throughout 12-step teachings can be applicable to nearly everything in life.
• Hope — Optimism that life can and will get better gives one hope in finding a better life. Through sharing and hearing others success stories, you may be better able to find your own. Long-term sobriety is possible, no matter who you are, and 12-step meetings are proof of this.

12-STEP GROUP MEETING TIMES IN NEWPORT BEACH, CA