12 Step Groups
“The ladies at Sophia, and the 12-step program, believed in me. They gave me the keys to the church to open up three days a week. It was good for my self-esteem to know that people trusted me. My whole life I had felt separate, different, alone. At Sophia, people wanted me there. It felt so nice to not be judged, and actually be embraced.”
“A key message and tradition in Alcoholics Anonymous is that of service, sharing and supporting others, passing on what you have received. This is partly what led Sister Arleen Brawley and I to co-found Sophia Recovery Centre in 2008.”
“I came to understand the progressive path alcoholism takes and was introduced to the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous; not a crash course, but a way of life one step at a time and one day at a time. I was fortunate to discover a women’s group in Edmonton, a safe place for women from varied professions and occupations sharing a common desire to stop drinking. My sponsor, a woman with long-term sobriety and a deep understanding of the steps as a way of life, walked with me for a number of years. My shame, embarrassment and self-loathing lifted the more I attended meetings, worked the steps in the company of a God of my understanding that was far removed from that of my childhood and in some ways showed up in my understanding of religious life. I experienced a freedom and a joy that I could not have imagined.”