GSOM Al-Anon Family Groups Sponsorship


Waiting for You

When we have found the promises to come true, perhaps the greatest service work is to pay it forward. Sponsors guide the journey of self-discovery and recovery through the twelve step programs.

Listen to people share in our online meetings, talk with them in our chat room...ask them questions about their own journey to wholeness. And when you are ready, private message them and discuss their sponsoring style.

Most sponsors do not solicit sponsee's; they wait to be asked. Generally speaking, it is recommended to find some one of the same sex to share the intimate journey of recovery. If you have questions about sponsors or the steps, attend any of our online meetings or the open chat afterward.

We've been waiting for your arrival.


How To Find A Sponsor

Many people say that sponsorship is the back bone of both AA & Al-Anon. A sponsor is a member that agrees to guide you through the steps of the program, answer any questions and just be there for you as you travel through recovery. Sponsors are mentors and serve as a great addition to your program. You can find a sponsor at a meeting since a good sponsor will be active in recovery.

Listen to the shares in the meetings... does the person have good program, good recovery? Do you feel a HP nudge towards them? Have they completed all of the 12 Steps? Do they attend meetings regularly? Do they have a sponsor?

Listen to that inner voice that tells you who would be a good program mentor for you. Find the courage, and ask. Do not take it personally if they cannot take you on as a sponsee...there may be many reason why they are not able to, none of which have anything to do with you. Ask again, and again if need be. Your sponsor will appear for you when the time is right.

Here is a good article on how to get the most support from a sponsor.

If you are new to this site, please read our Newcomers Package,


How to Become a Sponsor

After some time in the program of many sponsors will encourage their sponsees to start working with others. This usually happens after one or all of three things occurs: the sponsee achieves a year of continuous attendance has worked Step Nine, or has completed working all twelve steps for the first time. While being a sponsor is not a mandatory part of the program, service is considered one of the three pillars of AA and Al-Anon society.

Instructions

Step1
Make sure you have an understanding of what your role is as a sponsor. Talk to your sponsor and pay attention to how your sponsor behaves with you.

Step2
Go to many different meetings. Go to your home group weekly. Share as much as you can, and offer your phone number to newcomers. Also make sure you put your number on any group phone lists and participate in AA or Al-Anon events like workshops and dinners. Go to meetings at treatment centers and homeless shelters, where many newcomers will be looking for sponsors.

Step3
Listen to people in meetings. If you have experience with their dilemma, share about how you got through it.

Step4
When someone asks you to sponsor him and you accept, immediately set an appointment for the two of you to meet. Be prepared to discuss your expectations and set down ground rules, such as how often to call and what meeting you will attend together. At the first meeting you should also give assignments to work the First Step. Be sure to find out what your sponsee expects and if he has any questions.

Step5
Your job as an AA or Al-Anon sponsor is to work your sponsee through the steps. Make sure you do not give advise. You can share your experiences with others, but make sure they know you are not an authority but a trusted friend.


Twelve Steps of a Sponsor

I will not help you stay and wallow in limbo.
I will help you to grow, to become more productive, by your own definition.
I will help you become more autonomous, more loving of yourself, more free to continue becoming the authority of your own living.
I cannot give you dreams or ‘fix you up’ simply because I cannot.
I cannot give you growth, or grow for you. You must grow yourself, by facing reality, grim as it is at times.
I cannot take away your loneliness or pain.
I cannot sense your world for you, evaluate your goals, or tell you what is best for you in your world; you have your own world.
I cannot convince you of the crucial choice of choosing the scary uncertainty of growing over the safe misery not to grow.
I want to be with you and know you as a rich and growing friend, yet I cannot get close to you when you choose not to grow.
When I begin to care for you out of pity, when I begin to lose trust in you, then I am toxic, bad and inhibiting for you, and you for me.
You must know- my help is conditional, I will be with you, hang in there with you, as long as I continue to get even the slightest hints that you are trying to grow.
If you can accept all this, then perhaps we can help each other to become what God meant us to be…mature adults, leaving childishness forever to little children.

As a Sponsor, we are only there to Listen, Love and share Experience and Hope.