The Sober Village
A note from the Forums Team:
Introduction
Welcome to the Sober Village! We are glad you have found the Village, and pleased to make your acquaintance. The Sober Village is an online community and a safe place for people currently addicted to alcohol, drugs, food, behaviors, and other substances; for their friends and family; and for others who are interested in the experience of addiction and recovery.
You will find few rules and much camaraderie here. The Village operates under a “smorgasbord” approach—use approaches, tools, and techniques you like and leave the rest . . . just respect the table! We have people here who have achieved sobriety using twelve step programs, cognitive behavior therapy, Women for Sobriety principles, online support, anything you can think of. We have as many people who are still trying. We are supportive of each other’s chosen programs and chosen paths. Together, we strive to aid each other in our journeys to sobriety and beyond.
The Village community consists of three parts: a message board, online meetings, and twenty-four hour chat rooms. Our rules here are simple: be respectful of each other and each others’ sobriety. Be respectful of methods used to gain that sobriety—please do not “bash” people, programs, or other online recovery communities. This serves to keep the community close-knit, positive, and welcoming for everyone.
Message Board
The message board is currently the most active part of the Sober Village. To understand the way the message board is arranged, please click on the Forums link box located at the top right of every page. On the forums page, you will see the names of the Villagers who have visited the site during the past day, those who are currently using the message board and chat rooms, and site statistics. Further down the page, you will see the areas of the Village.
The Main Entrance is the first place for new Villagers to visit. Here you will find The Doorstop, a forum for new members to post about themselves and be welcomed by current Villagers. The Village Square has been created as a general interest area and a gathering place. This part of the board is not necessarily recovery-specific. The Lodge is dedicated to addictions and addictive behavior within dedicated twelve step, alternative methods, alcohol, substance abuse, and nicotine forums. In the Family Center, you will find forums for additional and related aspects of addiction, addictive behaviors, friends and family, physical health, and mental health. Self-harm and Eating disorders forums are safe havens within this area—look for the Violet Grove and the Gentle Corner. Finally, you will further find a place to discuss spirituality in The Spiritual Connection. Suggestions and technical questions have their own area as well.
Please have a look around. We would love you to introduce yourself in The Doorstop, but if you feel shy never fear: our Village Welcoming Committee and others will start your very own welcome thread regardless. There are a number of check-in threads throughout the boards that you might want to have a look at, as they receive significant traffic: The Moms thread, Help Me to Understand, and the Alternatives check-in thread (whose name changes monthly and always incorporates the name of the current month). When in doubt, post anywhere. More seasoned Villagers will see it and respond.
Meetings
We currently offer online meetings. Three are offered weekly, and one is offered bimonthly. The meetings are located in the chat rooms. To get to the chat rooms, please click on the Live Chat link at the top of every page on the right-hand side. Meetings last an hour to an hour and a half. Some have dedicated subjects and some do not. If you are sober or if you are using, you are always welcome to come to a meeting. We simply ask for respectful behavior towards other Villagers and the meeting host. You can find out more about potential subjects by looking at the Live Chat forum on the Message Board.
Chat Rooms
The Sober Village currently has four chat rooms. Two of these are dedicated meeting rooms. In The Terrace and Meeting Room, Diva’s Den and the Mens Club, you may chat at any time. If the meeting rooms are not in use for meetings, you may chat there as well. The default chat room is The Terrace. To change rooms, click on the drop down menu at the top side of your screen on the right. Click the room you wish to enter.
Chat tends to be more populated in the evening hours of US times. We do not always have members in chat. If you would like to chat, and no one is in the chat rooms, you might like to “park” yourself there while you are exploring the Message Board. It is likely that another Villager will drop in to see you, and you will be alerted by music when they enter the chat room. If you urgently desire help in the chat room, please post on the Message Board, and Villagers will do their best to join you.
A Final Note
Once again, welcome! We look forward to getting to know you better. The Sober Village is yours to use as you choose. Think of it as a living, breathing recovery tool. Our central premise is to be a support for all Villagers, wherever we are on our journey. And now you are one of us.
