Over the decades, the number of 12 Step programs has multiplied. The tenets of the twelve steps and what it means to work the steps has remained fairly consistent throughout the years and has remained close to the original concepts of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and its corresponding 12 Step philosophy.
Sponsorship is a strong component of the 12 Step program. According to the AA literature on sponsorship, a sponsor is like a guide to sharing with a newly recovering person in A. A sponsor shares what tools, slogans, and skills have helped the sponsor stay sober. The 12 Steps are the core of the recovery process and as a tool for personal growth. A sponsor may or may not be the one who works with the person moving through the steps.
“When we first begin to attend AA meetings, we may feel confused and sick and apprehensive…Many other questions occur to us between meetings; we find that we need constant, close support as we begin learning how to “live sober”. (Source)
The purpose of sponsorship is to help the recovering alcoholic (in the case of AA, but the word can be substituted for anything—addict, sex addict, overeater, shopaholic, etc.) stay sober by reminding the sponsor of how it was. It also helps the newcomer or the long timer suffering from a crisis to stay sober through life’s challenges. Sponsorship also provides the newcomer or the alcoholic with time to understand how AA or 12 step programs work:
- We do together what we cannot do alone.
- We are not alone, nor are we unique.
- We do not have to pick up a drink, a drug, place a bet, pick pornography, etc.
- The tools of the program: sayings, tools, literature, steps have demonstrated time and again the ability to live life without living in active addiction.
- There is a solution and it does not happen in active addiction.
- Secrets are dangerous and self destructive.
The role of sponsorship is truly to help the suffering alcoholic (addict) stay clean and sober and to practice the principles of the 12 Step program as they have been written. A sponsor does not give consultation on matters outside of AA, nor does the sponsor take control of the other person’s life.
There is no formal way or style to sponsorship, but the focus is singular, to help the alcoholic (addict) work the program and avoid relapsing. The sponsor is not to encourage dependence but rather healthy independence as well as reliance upon the program and the meetings. Sobriety is maintained in the rooms of AA, never by placing our lives or our sobriety in the care of a single other person.
For those seeking more information on sponsorship, there is literature on sponsorship in AA and other 12 Step Programs. Chapter 7 in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous defines working with others and the concept of doing service to stay sober.
Dr. Bob, one of the co-founders of AA, stated four reasons for doing service:
- Sense of duty
- It is a pleasure
- I pay my debt to the man who took time to pass it on to me
- Every time I do it I take out a little more insurance for myself against a possible slip
(Source)
inpatientaddictiontreatment.wordpress.com 
Posted on December 28, 2011
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