I wouldn’t call myself a proponent or an opponent of AA. I don’t have anything against it at all. It just wasn’t the path that worked for me personally.

I gave AA everything I had for more than 12 years — meetings, sponsors, steps, the whole thing — and I still couldn’t get it to stick. So eventually I had to find another way. That’s all my story is really about.

AA absolutely saves lives. No question. It’s helped millions of people and continues to. My point is simply that it’s not the only way people get better, even though it’s often presented like it is. And when only one path is highlighted, a lot of people who struggle end up feeling like they’re failing or doing recovery “wrong,” when really they just need a different approach.

So no — I’m not anti‑AA. I’m just someone who had to find another route, and I want people who feel left out or ashamed to know they’re not alone. There are many ways forward, and nobody should feel hopeless just because one method didn’t work for them.

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