Accountability in Sobriety

((This is post is sponsored by Soberlink))

I can’t think of anything more important in early sobriety than accountability. In fact, accountability is why I started this blog. I realized that alcohol was standing in the way of my writing (and myriad other important things), so SobrieTeaParty.com kept me accountable for both writing and abstaining from booze. I found magic in this blog and online sober community. In a way, we all keep each other accountable. I’m now 6+ years sober, writing a book, and co-hosting a top recovery podcast. Needless to say, the accountability worked!

Accountability is important in long-term recovery and sober curiosity, too, not just early sobriety. Here are a few ways to maintain accountability while taking life one day at a time:

Create a Ritual

Ritual is important because it creates habit. Once you stop consuming alcohol, even temporarily, it’s important to replace that habit with something else. A ritual can be anything from pulling a tarot card every morning to going on weekly walks with a friend. The ritual itself isn’t as important as the consistency and intention behind it. Try out a few activities to see what holds your interest. It’s OK to switch it up as long as you’re still showing up for yourself and your sobriety.

Find a Sober Buddy or Peer Support

It’s important to understand the value in peer support. Johann Hari famously states that “The opposite of addiction is connection”. There’s great relief in spending time with people who understand what you’re going through. Zoom support groups becoming so ubiquitous in the pandemic emphasize this. Now folks who were terrified of going to a church basement or community center to talk with strangers in an IRL meeting now have the ability to join an online meeting anywhere in the world with their camera off. If support groups aren’t your thing, that’s totally fair. You can get a lot out of having a Sober Buddy who you text when shit hits the fan or you just need to talk.

Check out Soberlink

Those who haven’t experienced addiction or substance use disorder often think that once someone gets out of rehab, they’re “cured”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. That time of rebirth is actually spent embarking on a new beginning, creating a meaningful life in sobriety while reckoning with our shaky pasts. Many folks in recovery are struggling with regaining the trust of their loved ones. Soberlink puts accountability front and center so families and friends can rebuild the trust that may have been lost in active addiction. The Soberlink remote alcohol monitoring system works in concert with works a cloud-based recovery system that tracks sobriety and even has the ability to share the data with loved ones. I like to think of Soberlink as a way to prolong treatment after rehabilitation or extensive therapies.

Tawny is an NYC-based millenial who writes about the intersection of sex and sobriety. Her work is featured in  Playboy, Men’s Health, Huffington Post, Writer’s Digest, The Temper, Audiofemme, a sex column for SheSaid, and two essay collections: The Addiction Diaries(LaunchPad 2020) and the Sex and the Single Woman (Harper Perennial 2022). She is the co-host of Recovery Rocks podcast and story developer for the Webby-Award winning podcast, F*cking Sober.