At the end of a meeting you may hear the chairperson or somebody with some time say “get a sponsor, get a home group, and get in service!” A newcomer may wonder, what is a sponsor and how do I get one? A sponsor is a member who has experience in the program and is willing guide you through the 12 steps.

You may even hear a chairperson say during the meeting “could the members who have the time and willingness to sponsor please raise your hands” and then a show of hands go up. The suggestion given to a newcomer is to go to meetings, sit back, listen and try to identify. If you just got out of treatment the suggestion is to go to a meeting the same day you get out, raise your hand and let people know who you are. Continue to keep your eyes and ears open for somebody you can identify with.

The first time you hear somebody you can truly identify with, after you’re done laughing or crying, it’s very hard to convince yourself that you’re “not like these people”. So give yourself a break and approach that individual after the meeting and talk to them.

The disease of addiction is cunning, baffling and insidious which means addicts cannot spot self-deception on their own. Our best thinking got us here, remember, we cannot fix something that’s broken with something that’s broken! This is why having a sponsor and a network (friends in the fellowship) is so vital to our recovery.

We are each others eyes and ears. Since “We can only keep what we have by giving it away”, sponsorship is a 2-way street. For many, getting a sponsor and following his/her suggestions may lead to one of the most honest, rewarding and mutually beneficial relationships they may ever know. Sponsorship is the heartbeat of the program; it is the pure essence of our therapeutic value of one addict helping another is without parallel, that means there’s nothing to compare it to. So if you’re new to the program, how far do you think you’ll make it without a heartbeat…

At Seabrook, we are committed to providing quality addiction treatment for the physical, emotional and spiritual illness of chemical dependency. Our structured, nurturing programs, along with the principles grounded in the Twelve Step philosophy of recovery, combine to foster the kind of change necessary for a clean and sober life. Our wide range of addiction treatment services include: intensive detoxification, individual and group therapy, and education in the biological, social and spiritual aspects of addiction in residential treatment.