Recovery isn’t easy; it’s work. As with many things, if it were easy, everybody would do it. But recovery doesn’t have do be done alone, and in fact, it’s easier when it’s done in partnership with a community. There are a variety of communities for recovery, ranging from the 12 Step groups like Alcoholics (and Narcotics) Anonymous to formal treatment centers staffed by professionals. The different communities of recovery are far from mutually exclusive. Most of them in fact refer consumers back and forth between the groups, and encourage participation in a variety of programs, especially early in recovery. It is not uncommon for people who have enrolled in formal treatment for addiction to also participate in outside “anonymous” groups, as well as those offered as part of the treatment program itself. These communities are an important part of the recovery process, because they are group of individuals with the same goals. Just as groups of addicts gather to use together, groups of people in recovery gather to recover from addictions together. Having a new group, a community that is committed to recovery, is a supportive element of every addict’s journey out addiction and into recovery.
