- Shares their own story, as well as their experience, strength, and hope in recovery.
- Helps a sponsee understand emotional intoxication, the Laundry List traits of an adult child, and the effects of family alcoholism and dysfunction.
- Encourages active Step work, meeting attendance, journaling, meditation, and seeking a Higher Power.
- Encourages a sponsee to break old family rules which discouraged talking, trusting, feeling, and remembering.
- Helps a sponsee identify, express, and understand feelings.
An ACA sponsor with an addiction must not be active in that addiction. We cannot sponsor others if we are drinking, drugging, or engaging in some other behavior that would qualify as a relapse.
It is also important to remember that an ACA sponsor:
- Is not a parent, authority figure, or Higher Power to the person being sponsored.
- Does not judge or invalidate the feelings or insights of the person being sponsored.
- Does not do for a sponsee what they can do for themselves.
- Does not give or lend money.
- Does not become romantically or sexually involved with a sponsee
Fellow Traveler: This is a traditional method of ACA sponsorship. A person is willing to share experience, strength, and hope in helping the sponsee work his or her way through the Twelve Steps and to pick up the recovery tools for facing life on life’s terms
Temporary Sponsor: Serves as an interim sponsor for a short time until a permanent one is found.
Multiple Sponsors: More than one sponsor to serve various needs of the sponsee, as long as the sponsee isn’t hiding out in the various relationships. We don’t use multiple sponsors to avoid intimacy with one person or to “shop” for an opinion that we desire.
Co-Sponsors: Where two people agree to sponsor each other. This model seems to work best for ACA members having significant time and experience in the program.
Long Distance Sponsors: This can work well for geographically isolated ACA members. There is snail-mail, e-mail, skype, telephone, tape recordings, and voice stream where distance or circumstances prevent person-to-person contact. Additionally, the Internet has made these long-distance relationships more meaningful.
Some ACA members who are geographically isolated use online ACA meetings, ACA teleconference [phone bridge line] meetings, and live chat to work an ACA program. They use a private chat room or the telephone to do extensive Step work with a long-distance sponsor. In addition to the Steps, there can also be discussion and meaning found in the Twelve Traditions in this method of sponsorship.