Both Refuge Recovery and Alcoholics Anonymous are peer groups open to anyone recovering from addiction.
While both organisations believe in spiritualism and togetherness, each one has its differences.
In essence, AA is built around a structured 12-step model with a spiritual element, while Refuge Recovery uses mindfulness and Buddhist-inspired principles without requiring belief in a higher power.
If you’re about to embark on your recovery journey, it’s understandable that you may want to scope them both out before committing.
Everyone has their own beliefs and intricacies, so it’s important you find a recovery provider that aligns with what works for you.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a worldwide, highly popular and peer-led recovery programme for people struggling with alcohol use that’s open to people of all ages and backgrounds. It’s run by volunteers, and costs nothing to attend.
AA promote belief in a ‘higher power’, although this power is open to different interpretations. Group leaders take inspiration from the ‘Big Book’, which is centred around this spiritual approach, and includes prayers and poems that are similar to those in the Christian Bible.
There’s a strong emphasis on community and accountability. The fellowship uses the 12-step method, where participants follow twelve affirmations.
These spiritual principles can help you focus on sobriety and get you in the mindset for long-term recovery:
Open meetings are available for both alcoholics and family members or observers, and closed meetings are for AA members only who have a drinking problem and are working to recover. Online and telephone meetings are also available.
Speaker meetings have a ‘chair’, who sets a topic for discussion and reads literature. A few members selected before the meeting will share their journey with the group.
Beginner meetings are led by a member who has been sober for some time, and are focused around newcomers.
If you value structure, routine, and shared identity in recovery, the AA will be a good fit for you.
Refuge Recovery is an addiction recovery programme that utilises mindfulness practices from Buddhism, like meditation, empathy and ethical living as a healthy mindset to heal from addiction, but it’s non-theistic, so you don’t need to be spiritual to attend.
The organisation focuses on the Eightfold Path, which is inspired by Buddhism, and consists of 8 steps as part of the recovery process:
The recovery group take wisdom from the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, which encourage self-reflection and understanding behaviour patterns as tools for recovery:
The meeting structure consists of a twenty-minute meditation, readings, teachings, and group sharing.
If you’re looking for alternatives to AA, Refuge Recovery could be a good option. If you’re into meditation and you benefit from sitting with your thoughts, you might benefit from this more secular, mindfulness-led approach to recovery.
In 2019, Refuge Recovery members created a separate recovery entity named Recovery Dharma. This is a sister programme which follows the same teachings. Only Recovery Dharma operate in the UK.
Refuge Recovery and Alcoholics Anonymous have a few differences. While Refuge Recovery focuses more on secular addiction recovery with a hint of spiritualism, AA focuses more on faith.
Refuge Recovery takes a Buddhist recovery approach, and AA use the 12-step technique.
Similarities between AA and Refuge Recovery:
Differences between AA and Refuge Recovery:
When choosing which recovery support group you should go with, think about your own personal preference rather than which other people consider to be ‘better’.
Consider whether you would prefer a spiritual or more secular approach, think about whether you like a structured process to follow, or if you benefit from flexibility.
Consider the pros and cons of each:
Remember, you can try both before you make up your mind – The AA offer ‘open meetings’ for non-members. Refuge Recovery is informal, so there’s no need to sign up. Many people shop around before deciding on an addiction recovery group.
It’s also common to attend both – learning the structure of the AA and combining it with the mindfulness of Refuge Recovery can give you double the tools for success.
Recovery paths are flexible, so it’s good to be open-minded to change as you go through the stages of your new sobriety.
While peer-led groups like AA and Refuge Recovery may be enough support for some people to recover from alcohol use disorder, many people need more thorough rehabilitation in order to reach long-term sobriety. This is particularly true if you have a severe alcohol addiction.
It can be dangerous to quit drinking cold turkey if you’re dependent on alcohol because of severe complications of withdrawal like delirium tremens (DT).
The AA and Refuge Recovery cannot offer medical guidance, so they cannot assist you with you detox. Speak to your GP for a health assessment as the first step.
If you’ve been drinking high doses for a long time, you have mental health conditions or you’ve relapsed in the past, you may require more support like rehab.
Therapy is also a vital part of recovery, as it will help you look deeper into your past, trauma and thought patterns.
We always recommend inpatient alcohol rehab, as you’ll receive around-the-clock medical and holistic care.
Reach out to Rehab 4 Addiction to find out more about affordable alcohol rehab. Call 0800 140 4690 (or +44 345 222 3508 from outside the UK).
Below, we answer some common questions around this important topic:
Neither support group is ‘better’ or more effective – it comes down to what works best for you. Different people will find one helps more than another based on personal fit. The engagement, consistency and support matter more than the model you choose.
SMART (Self-Management and Recovery Training) is a recovery programme that uses a science focus. Meetings consist of a check-in if you wish to share, worksheets and a 4-point programme to help build the motivation and tools necessary for sobriety.
Yes, both AA and Refuge Recovery offer remote meetings by video call through Zoom or an online platform, so it doesn’t matter if you can’t find a physical meeting nearby. Online meetings don’t suit everyone, but this flexibility can help you fit meetings more easily around your responsibilities.
Alcoholics Anonymous is specifically for alcohol addiction, whereas Refuge Recovery offer rehabilitation for a wider range of addictions. However, both groups cater well to the needs of people with alcoholism, so both are effective.
In 2018, Levine (founder of Refuge Recovery) faced several allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, which he denies. Recovery Dharma was created by several members of Refuge Recovery to distance the group from Levine.
Boris is our editor-in-chief at Rehab 4 Addiction. Boris is an advisor with more than 20 years in the field. His knowledge covers a broad of topics relating to addiction, rehab and recovery. Boris is an advisor and assists in the alcohol detox and rehab process. Boris has been featured on a variety of websites, including the Verywell Mind and Healthline. You can connect with Boris online at LinkedIn or X.com.
