Self Supporting Alcoholics?

Self Supporting Alcoholics?

What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? This RAW Recovery episode drops you straight into a live-style chat where Dion wrestles with one of AA’s most practical – and touchy – topics: self-support.

Instead of a dry lecture on Tradition Seven, you’ll hear real talk about money, responsibility, and what it actually means for an AA group – and individual alcoholics – to be “fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.” Dion moves between reading from AA literature and commenting in his usual unfiltered way, mixing humour, coffee-fuelled rants, and genuine concern for how recovery is being practised today.

He questions why some groups dodge learning the traditions, why meetings can obsess over money while newcomers slip through the cracks, and why he believes, as he puts it, “Helping another alcoholic is always the answer. It is not money.” You’ll hear stories about groups over-relying on Zoom funds, debates over large donations, and his strong view that outside money tends to pull focus away from AA’s primary purpose.

On a personal level, Dion talks about practical accountability, like advising newcomers not to carry enough cash to get drunk, and his own choice to invest in 12-step work and literature rather than dropping money in a basket he doesn’t trust. He also shares his efforts to bring AA meetings into detox, stressing that recovery is about community and service, not grants or government funding.

This episode is especially relevant if you’re sober, in AA, or just curious why money conversations in recovery spaces can feel so charged. It might leave you asking yourself: how much of your own recovery is self-supporting – financially, spiritually and emotionally?