Availing yourself of a sponsor

An AA sponsor is not a professional caseworker or counselor of any sort.  A sponsor is not someone to borrow money from, nor get clothes, jobs, or food from.  A sponsor is not a medical expert, nor qualified to give religious, legal, domestic or psychiatric advice, although a good sponsor is usually willing to discuss such matters confidentially, and often can suggest where the appropriate professional assistance can be obtained.

A sponsor is simply a sober alcoholic who can help solve only one problem: how to stay sober.  And the sponsor has only one tool to use – personal experience, not scientific wisdom.

Sponsors have been there, and often have more concern, hope, compassion, and confidence for us than we have for ourselves.  They certainly have had more experience.  Remembering their own condition, they reach out to help, not down.