Guidance and Support: Working With a Sponsor
There are many things to consider when working to recover from addiction, one of the most important being whether working with a sponsor might be beneficial for us. If we’ve joined a peer support group, we’re likely already familiar with working with a sponsor. A sponsor is a peer in recovery, often recovering from the same addictive substances or behaviors we’re recovering from.
Sponsors are experienced with recovery work and volunteer to help those newly sober or struggling with sobriety. Our sponsor is usually considerably further along in their recovery journey. They can teach us so much and offer us much support and helpful guidance.
At professional treatment centers like Athens Area Commencement Center, you’ll be encouraged to work with a sponsor and attend 12-Step meetings. People often find the sponsor they’d like to be matched with at these peer-led support group meetings.
Shame and Isolation: Working With a Sponsor
One of the first benefits we experience working with a sponsor is seeing that we are not alone. Struggling with addiction can be incredibly isolating. Many of us don’t have close friends or family who understand firsthand what we’re going through. We might not have a support system yet. Often, we don’t have people in our lives who share our goal for sobriety. We experience a great deal of isolation, judgment, and ostracism, whether in our families, schools, workplaces, or larger communities. Chances are we’ve also self-isolated because of how much shame and regret we feel related to our addiction.
Working With a Sponsor Means You’re Not Alone
Our emotional patterns of feeling alone shunned and rejected can further fuel our addictive patterns. These are painful emotions, and for years, we’ve used drugs or alcohol to cope with them. Right away our sponsor shows us that we’re not alone. This can feel invaluable, even lifesaving, for us.
We can begin to heal our feelings of shame, isolation, and unworthiness when working with a sponsor. Our sponsors are on our team, helping us navigate all the different recovery challenges. They understand us and can relate to us, having also had similar life experiences. No longer feeling alone can mean everything to us.
Learning to Ask for Help: Working With a Sponsor
Another potential block to our recovery is our determination to try to get sober alone. Sometimes, we don’t feel worthy or deserving of help. Other times, we feel prideful. Being resistant to asking for help and needing to do everything on our own can stand in our way. We might associate needing other people with weakness and failure. It actually takes tremendous strength to be vulnerable and admit we need help.
If we’ve repeatedly tried to get sober on our own but have so far not been successful, it might be because we haven’t been able to ask for help. Working with a sponsor is a perfect example of finally allowing ourselves to receive the help we deserve.
You can further support your recovery by attending treatment programs like those offered at Athens Area Commencement Center, where working with a sponsor is encouraged.
Staying Sober Long-Term: Working With a Sponsor
Research shows that working with a sponsor can actually increase the likelihood that we’ll be able to stay sober over time. Giving ourselves that support can mean the difference between continuing to struggle with our sobriety and achieving sobriety long-term.
Sometimes, this is a matter of swallowing our pride and accepting that we need help staying sober. In recovery, we learn the life lesson of asking for help, and then letting ourselves accept the help. This can be a difficult but priceless lesson and one of the many reasons why working with a sponsor can be so beneficial.
Having an Accountability Partner by Working With a Sponsor
Another benefit of working with a sponsor that can’t be underestimated is having an accountability partner to help us stay on track with our sobriety. This is especially true when we’re newly sober and still feeling tempted or triggered to use.
Sponsors can be instrumental in helping us prevent ourselves from relapsing. Our sponsor can be a designated support system to reach out to whenever we feel vulnerable, powerless, or afraid.
Having a go-to person to check in with, both in moments of crisis and on a regular basis, can be one of our most effective wellness tools in recovery. We can enlist our sponsor to be our accountability partner and schedule regular check-ins with them. Importantly, we can commit to calling them whenever a craving, addictive urge, or trigger hits that could put us at risk of relapsing.
Sometimes, our sponsor’s kindness and comforting encouragement help us survive those moments of crisis without using.
Reinforcing Our Commitment to Our Sobriety: Working With a Sponsor
Working with a sponsor can help us deepen our commitment to our sobriety. Learning from our sponsor’s experiences and sharing our own with them can strengthen our resolve to stay sober. Our sponsor’s guidance and commitment to helping us throughout our recovery can mean so much to us, especially when we’re struggling.
We face innumerable challenges in recovery – from fear and overwhelm to self-isolation to not knowing what steps to take. One of the best gifts we can give ourselves is working with a sponsor as part of our recovery.
Sometimes, knowing we’re not alone is what helps us most when struggling to get sober. Working with a sponsor is not only an invaluable recovery tool – it is a priceless reminder that we’re not alone, that we’re surrounded by support, and that we deserve help. Working with a sponsor can provide the encouragement we need, regular check-ins to help us hold ourselves accountable, and critical support when we’re in crisis. If you’re having a hard time maintaining your sobriety, consider adding working with a sponsor to your recovery plan. Call Athens Area Commencement Center at (706) 546-7355 for help with your recovery, including working with a sponsor and attending 12-Step meetings.