[G Rec]

I had 2 group sessions this week, the first on Monday in the Topics Groups on avoiding Potholes to Recovery, and the 2nd yesterday was a new member’s practical advice group.

I found the topic group very helpful, a summary of some of the items that stood out to me.

• Unexpected events can be big potential potholes
• Try and have a plan in place for dealing with unexpected events
• The pandemic is one of the best examples of an unexpected event that could be a big pothole (working from home, events canceled, fewer items to do
• It is good to have a variety of non-gambling items to fall back on to fill the previous gambling time, if you rely on only 1 item to fill the void, if something happens to prevent you from participating in that item, you could be back in a tough place
• Good thread bumped in the Recovery Tools forum listing various options for things to do to replace gambling
• Even what appears to be a good unexpected event can potentially be a pothole, a good example is some unexpected money coming your way such as a bonus, or a tax refund as you now have potential unaccountable funds. To help in these situations, we should turn that unaccountable money into accountable money as fast as possible such as telling a friend or partner about it or posting about it on the forum.

I also found the new member’s group useful. There were a few newcomers which Charles helped out with various tips/advice/support resources which were a reminder/refresher on the support available. It was also good to be able to try to provide some advice/tips to these new members based on my own experience.