The Rational Path
SMART Recovery
The most widely established non-twelve-step program in the world. It frames addiction as a changeable behavior supported by psychology and choice, not a lifelong identity.
The Recovery Menu
Recovery isn’t a single road.
It’s a menu.
People differ in temperament, worldview, needs, and circumstances. The path that works for one person can be the wrong tool for another. The paths below are the menu: different approaches to changing your relationship with alcohol. Explore any of them and find what might actually fit you.
The Recovery Menu grew out of The View from a Windowless Basement, my book about finding sobriety when the traditional path didn’t fit. The idea is simple: recovery works better when you know what options are available to you.
It isn’t a ranking, and it isn’t a prescription. You’re allowed to try one, combine several, or move between them over time.
The Rational Path
ABCT — Find a CBT Therapist
The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies' public directory for finding a licensed CBT therapist near you, searchable by location.
The Rational Path
Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT)
The professional home of Motivational Interviewing, a collaborative counseling style that treats ambivalence as normal and helps you find your own reasons for change.
The Rational Path
This Naked Mind
Annie Grace's reframing approach, expanded into articles, podcasts, and online programs. It dismantles cultural myths and examines how alcohol actually affects the brain and body.
The Secular Support Path
LifeRing Secular Recovery
A secular recovery organization focused on personal agency and peer support. A sober room with no higher power required and no permanent label.
The Secular Support Path
Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS)
A non-religious, self-empowerment recovery network with chapters across the country, built around discussion rather than doctrine.
The Secular Support Path
Women for Sobriety
A secular program built specifically around the needs and experiences of women, using affirmations and a focus on self-esteem and emotional growth.
The Secular Support Path
Secular AA
Secular and agnostic AA meetings for people who want the fellowship and the steps of AA without the religious language or a required higher power.
The Mindfulness Path
Recovery Dharma
A meditation-based recovery community rooted in Buddhist principles, emphasizing healing rather than labeling. Its core text is free under a Creative Commons license.
The Mindfulness Path
Refuge Recovery
A peer-led mindfulness community built explicitly around Buddhist psychology, offering a slower, gentler recovery culture.
The Mindfulness Path
Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention
A therapy-based group that blends meditation, body and breath awareness, and practical coping strategies designed specifically for substance use.
The Mindfulness Path
Yoga of 12-Step Recovery (Y12SR)
Yoga of 12-Step Recovery connects the somatic practice of yoga with the cognitive tools of recovery. Each meeting pairs a sharing circle with a gentle, recovery-themed yoga class.
The Body & Movement Path
The Phoenix
A national sober active community offering free fitness classes, climbing, running, hiking, and social events to anyone with 48 hours of sobriety.
The Body & Movement Path
Recovery 2.0
Tommy Rosen's online community where yoga, breathwork, and meditation meet recovery, with classes, courses, and group meetings you can join from anywhere.
The Digital Path
r/stopdrinking
One of the largest and most active online sobriety communities. Anonymous, global, and available at any hour.
The Digital Path
Reframe
A neuroscience-based app for cutting back or quitting, combining daily education, drink tracking, and a supportive community.
The Digital Path
I Am Sober
A widely used app that tracks your days, prompts a daily pledge, and connects you with a peer community organized by what you're working on.
The Digital Path
Nomo
A free, minimalist sobriety-tracking app built by someone in recovery, with customizable clocks and gentle, low-pressure features.
The Digital Path
Insight Timer
A large, mostly free meditation app. It isn't recovery-specific, but many people use its tools to steady anxiety, cravings, and emotional overwhelm.
The Digital Path
Sober Sidekick
A free app built around a peer-support network, designed so that when you post, real people respond, to cut isolation and relapse.
The Digital Path
The Luckiest Club
An online sobriety community offering frequent live meetings, courses, and peer support, with a warm, non-dogmatic tone.
The Faith-Based Alternative
Celebrate Recovery
The largest Christ-centered recovery program in the world, running in tens of thousands of churches. It addresses not just substance use but hurts, habits, and hang-ups.
The Faith-Based Alternative
Overcomers Outreach
An international network of Christ-centered 12-step support groups for individuals and families affected by any addiction, not just alcohol.
The Faith-Based Alternative
National Association for Christian Recovery
A long-running hub for Christian recovery, with resources and directories spanning the twelve steps, church-based recovery, family recovery, and spirituality.
The Faith-Based Alternative
Adult & Teen Challenge
A faith-based, long-term residential program (typically 12 to 18 months) offering Christ-centered recovery through discipleship and mentoring, with more than 215 centers across the US and Canada.
The Harm Reduction & Moderation Path
Moderation Management
The largest peer-support network built around harm reduction rather than mandatory abstinence, with online meetings and a structured Kickstart course.
The Harm Reduction & Moderation Path
HAMS
Harm Reduction, Abstinence, and Moderation Support. A free, lay-led network that supports whatever goal you choose, without judgment.
The Harm Reduction & Moderation Path
Sunnyside
Built specifically for moderation rather than abstinence, combining drink tracking, text-based coaching, and an optional path to naltrexone through telehealth.
The Sober Curious & Alcohol-Free Culture Path
Sober Curious
Ruby Warrington's book coined the term and helped launch a movement built around questioning alcohol without requiring a crisis or a diagnosis first.
The Sober Curious & Alcohol-Free Culture Path
Dry January
The original month-long alcohol-free challenge, run by the charity Alcohol Change UK, with a free app and daily support. A low-stakes way to reset and notice what changes.
The Sober Curious & Alcohol-Free Culture Path
Club Soda
A mindful-drinking community with online courses, events, and a growing culture around alcohol-free and low-strength drinks. Free to join.
No resources in this path yet.
The Recovery Menu is an educational guide adapted from The View from a Windowless Basement. It isn’t medical advice, and listing a resource isn’t an endorsement. If you’re in crisis, contact a medical professional or emergency services.