There is also SMART recovery, which is science based: [smartrecovery.org]

Try s.m.a.r.t recovery go to the website [smartrecovery.org]

It's a secular thing none of that twelve step crap online meetings as well as group

[smartrecovery.org]

Someone told me once your "higher power" can be a door knob if you want it to be; maybe your own recovery can be your higher power! Best of luck to you.

Agreeing with all who have said to try SMART Recovery, which focuses more on cognitive behavioral therapy techniques rather than 'divine inspiration', or other secular programs rather than programs that rely on HPs.

However, assuming you may stick with the traditional 12-stepping (for whatever reason makes sense for you), this Cattus came to the idea that "turning your life and will over to a power greater than yourself" turned into the question "Well if I am not willing to turn my life over to God, since I don't believe in superstitious mythology, then exactly who AM I willing to turn my life over to? 'Cuz it sure wasn't ME!" (plz excuse poor grammar)

It was at that point I realized everything I was doing was in service to my spouse, leaving little for me except frustration and exhaustion. Once I decided to live my life for me, everything changed for the better.

Tetched by God? Nah. Just a change in priorities, all told. Easy to say - much harder to live.

Just keep in mind that AA/Al-Anon were founded in the 1930's and 1950's (respectively), when well over 90% of the country self-identified as Christian. Today, the percentage is closer to 70%, so someday AA and Al-Anon are going to have to modernize or be relegated to history.

I’m in recovery and can help. There are others like us in meetings. Sometimes they are hard to find. Listen to the share and you can tell when they don’t mention God. Also there are some good websites Facebook groups etc.

Say, “I love myself unconditionally.”

Repeat it until you believe it.

One more thought... I know an atheist who had problems with the higher power concept in his AA meetings as well. When I asked him how he dealt with it, he said... "I think of my higher power as my more perfect self, without all my BS" and that worked for him. Something to think about.

(Edited)
After I posted this I read the response below mine, and @mischi pretty much beat me to it, and very concisely.

Good luck going forward.
Congratulations on taking logic and reason with you on your road to recovery.
I truly hope you are successful.

AA Beyond Belief (Facebook group)

Staying Sober without God (book):
[aaagnostica.org]

So this "higher power" thing. The literature may use that term somewhere, but the way it's written is "power greater than ourselves".
If I try to move a huge stone in my yard, but cannot do it, I get tools to use to help move it, but still cannot not budge the damn thing. So I call up a few friends, we all put our heads together, grab tools and whatya know, the stone moves. Strangely enough many in AA would say "but for the grace of god" we got that done. But I say "fuck no. I couldn't do it myself so I called a few friends over to help me get it done. Together we all are a power greater than myself. You see what I mean? No god, or "higher power" involved.
It was AA that got me to ultimately settle into my agnosticism. If there is a god, he/she/it doesn't give a flying fuck if you get sober or not. That's been my experience. Make change, get change.

A higher power can be whatever you want. The fact is that alcoholics etc have no inner power to change, that's why we use a "higher power" for some reason it works to pray and meditate.
Do you not think that mother nature is a power greater than you? Or the universe?
The use those! Or anything else that you want.
There is no religion in AA - or shouldn't be anyway.

My sober B Day is 08/29/2013, I relied heavily on AA for the first 4 months. These days my “sober daily hygiene” is a combination of meditation/yoga and weed.

Are you a Reddittor? This is an incredible resource. When I joined the forum 5 years ago we were estatic reaching almost 25k subscribers. Clearly it caught on. A lot of incredible people who got me through an incredibly difficult first year.

[reddit.com]

Download the Reddit app here: [reddit.app.link]

The problem is not the alcohol. It's always something else in your life that is not working out. Maybe your boss, divorce or family, so find out what is bugging you first, then work it. It's about love and work, not Jesus. Your crutch is on drugs or getting high on Jesus, either drug. Dragging yourself out of the mud works best and lasting.

I attended Al-anon meetings as an atheist and told them that I was not a believer. They told me that my "higher power" could just be the group. Nevertheless, they always recited "The Lord's Prayer" at the conclusion of the meeting, which I took to be disingenuous. My "higher power" is science...and she doesn't give a shit about me or my perceived problems.

The whole god-thing is all make-believe. However, there's something to what's been called the god within. It's actually a discovery of your true self-nature, but all the religious belief just clouds the goal of self-discovery. (Or so I think.) Going deep within is where you'll find who you really are and where you'll discover your genuine power.

I went to Codependents Anonymous for a couple of years. It’s a good 12-step group in general. The extent to which they stay away from Christianity and keep the higher power vague will vary from group to group. I do think 12-step groups tend to focus on the negative past behavior and not so much on positive future behavior and attitudes. I found a book by Kant’s Bosniak “The Becoming Process” to be a big help as a positive alternative process.

Your higher power is your brain

I eventually gave up on AA because of how hard they pushed the god thing. One guy actually asked me, "If you don't believe in God, what're you doing here?" It was clear in that moment they didn't want atheists in their midst.

[aabeyondbelief.org]

good luck. i never went b/c of the religious connotation. i have enough problems but i'm not a hypocrite.

Hi. I just happen to have an AA in addiction Studies. We covered atheism and higher power in some of the classes. I have never had an addiction myself, so this is my understanding of how it works.

The professor told us of three different people who chose higher powers other than "god". Once chose his daughter, one chose his motorcycle and another chose a kitten, and of course in each case ti worked, because he wanted to illustrate a point.

If you do not believe in the supernatural (god), then you need to find something in your life which evokes feelings of love and caring in yourself. Teh more you do something for a person or thing that evokes feelings of love within yourself, teh better you think of yourself as a person, and the less you desire to drink and/or use.

There are two aspects to addiction, there is physical addiction and psychological addiction. The physical addiction is easier to deal with. The psychological aspects are much more difficult, and is the psycholigcl aspects which the twelve steps help deal with.

The point of the twelve steps is to gradually over time to change your behavior(s), so you think better of yourself and so you find it easier to live with yourself as a person, so you don't feel a need to numb your emotions by usign chemicals (alcohol/drugs) to get relief from how yoiu feel.

Everyone starts using for a myriad of different reasons, but as addiction takes hold, virtually everyone develops similar personality traits in order to maintain their addictions. These traits for most people are contrary to how most think "good people" behave, and so there is usually a degree of self loathing that develops which in turn needs to be numbed with the chemical(s) of choice. So, drinking/using becomes no longer about feeling god, but about no longer feeling bad.

Anyway, if you are starting into the 12 steps and are an atheist, look for a sponsor who is also an atheist or at least agnostic. 12 step groups have a lot of variance as to how much they use religion. If you want ot avoid religious emphasis, you might try going to groups which are either gay or gay friendly (assuming you have no problems with gay persons).

Anyway, I hope some of this is helpful.

You may want to check out NA (Narcotics Anonymous) for meetings in your area. Most of them have many members who are non-religious folk, Buddhists, atheists, etc. In fact most of the chapters prohibit people from referring to God, prayers, or their religion at all - because it alienates people. And there are often people with alcohol issues only - no other drugs - who attend because of this. At least this is the case in the Tampa Bay area - so I assume that it is the same elsewhere. Good luck.

You have already been brainwashed by the big book chanting old readings every meeting....get out of that cult QUICK....FIND YOUR NEAREST RATIONAL RECOVERY or Secular Sobriety group meeting or online reading.....there are no higher powers or personality spirits and alleged gawds with a penis.....if you have dysfunctional family issues seek a Rational Emotive Therapist instead of a religious counselor .....spend your time wisely with Atheists rather than trading stupor for delusions....AA is drunk with religion and often are toxic smoke filled rooms of dangerous addicts and felons court ordered into "anger management" which is identical to 12 step AA religion

There is an organization called Secular Organization for Sobriety, a/k/a Save OurSelves. Check to see if there's a chapter in your area. I think there's other secular groups too but I'm not familiar with the names
[aaagnostica.org]
Good luck to you