Stories of Secular Recovery from Addiction through Narcotics Anonymous

Mike C shares his journey of overcoming addiction, finding a secular approach within Narcotics Anonymous, and building a grounded, fulfilling life through service, personal connection, and step work over nearly 15 years of recovery. Finding Secular NA allowed Mike to deepen his recovery, rebuild family relationships, get married, and stay dedicated to supporting newcomers in staying clean.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

Annda describes nearly three decades of secret substance abuse that ended when she sought help and found her way to 12 step programs. As an atheist, she ignored the "God stuff" from the start, guided in part by an old-timer who modeled recovery without belief. Ten years into sobriety she discovered Narcotics Anonymous, She describes her recovery as simple, relational, and ongoing — a daily practice that has carried her and her family through continued hardship without a return to use.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

In this episode, we hear from John C, an Australian NA member with nearly 39 years of recovery. In his share, John describes building a secular, humanist path through the Twelve Steps by replacing belief in God with humility, honest self-examination, and a deepening capacity to love the people closest to him. John’s story offers proof that the program bends to fit the person, not the other way around. Recorded on May 2, 2025 at the Friday, NA Secular Speaker Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

In this episode, we hear from Pamee who has a 36 year connection with NA, with honest detours along the way. Pamee speaks about relapse, PTSD, service, and healing with a candor that doesn't flinch. This is a share about staying alive, staying clean, and building a life where both are possible. Lastly, Pamee reminds us that healing runs alongside recovery, not behind it. Recorded on June 10, 2026 at the Wednesday Another Secular Meeting meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

In this episode, we hear from Bob O. Bob reflects on how he talked himself into addiction by romanticizing self-destruction. Bob reminds us that addiction doesn't always take root in trauma or involve a dramatic backstory. Through choosing recovery and relying on Secular NA, Bob has built a quieter, more honest and fulfilling life. Recorded on March 22, 2025 at the Friday, NA Secular Speaker Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

In this episode, we hear from Paulette. Paulette reflects on 29 years of secular recovery, describing how she found her higher power in the fellowship of NA itself, adapted the 12 Steps to her own values, and built a meaningful, authentic life — earning her bachelor's degree at 60 — without ever believing in a supernatural god.

This share was recorded at the September 2025 New Mexico NA Convention where PAULETTE presented on the topic “Our Need and Capacity for Spiritual Growth is Infinite.”

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

Gary came into Narcotics Anonymous in 1987 after a therapist handed him a helpline number — not by choice, but by accident — and found himself at home almost immediately, despite rejecting the program's religious underpinnings. Over nearly four decades of uninterrupted recovery, he has built his clean life around sponsorship, service work, and a fierce commitment to keeping NA meetings safe for newcomers. Recorded on Feb 12, 2025 at the Wednesday, NA Another Secular Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

Coming into NA at age 46 after a lifetime of addiction, violence, and poverty, Anne Marie found in the rooms something she had never experienced: hope, acceptance, and the possibility of change. Over nearly 13 years of recovery, she discovered that special interest groups — secular, queer, women-only — provided the smaller, safer containers she needed to surface and integrate the parts of herself she had long hidden, ultimately reframing the program’s concept of god as the growing self-awareness that allows her to choose healing over harm. Recorded on April 17, 2026 at the Friday, NA Secular Speaker Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

In this episode, we hear from Maggie, who shares how fear of abandonment, low self-esteem, and seemingly small, early tendencies (such as being fixated on salt), led to addiction. She explains that she sees Recovery as lifelong process built on integrity and willingness, and also tells how she built nearly two decades of recovery without relying on a higher power.

"I do live as best I can my program, the steps. I'm engaged, I'm involved, I have service positions — and I think sometimes if there is a fall-off of doing steps, having service is a really good idea too."

In terms of a higher power, Maggie offers a secular reinterpretation of “HP” : "For the HP part — higher purpose. Doesn't have to be higher power, because I have a direction that is bigger than me, right? And I have so much that I can depend on and work on, and I will always have a future as long as I let it be." Recorded on Feb 21, 2025 at the Friday, NA Secular Speaker Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

In this episode we hear from Elvis. Elvis came to NA reluctantly, nearly walking away over its God-centric language, until he found his footing in secular meetings where his atheism was welcomed rather than condemned. He worked the steps by treating every higher power reference as "not applicable" — not as a protest, but as honest self-accounting. That combination of secular community and unflinching honesty has carried him to over six and a half years clean, and a life transformed beyond anything he once imagined. Recorded on June 6, 2025 at the Friday NA Secular Speaker Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

In this episode, we welcome, Amy who shares her journey from first using drugs at age 12, through her 18 years of conventional AA recovery, to a relapse triggered by a post-surgery opioid prescription and 12 more years of active addiction, to finally returning to the program.

Amy says, "I don't crave today and that's probably the most important thing that you're going to hear come out of my mouth in this whole share—because that is huge and I don't ever want to forget that." Amy says that Secular NA saved her life by allowing her to strip away religious language and focus on the spiritual principles underneath—honesty, humility, compassion, and gratitude—supported by peer community and behavioral change rather than a higher power. Recorded on March 29, 2025 at the Friday, NA Secular Speaker Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

In this episode, we welcome, Kikki. Kikki has been clean for over 41 years in Narcotics Anonymous! But that almost didn’t happen because at her very first meeting of NA she didn't hear a message of recovery. Instead, she heard somebody talking about god, and when she read the 12 steps, they too seemed to be centered on a belief in god.

Fortunately, two and a half years later she came back to NA and found meetings that didn't stress a deity. “I saw people that were staying clean supporting each other. I felt a lot of hope.” Kikki says that believing in a god isn't a requirement. “We are each entitled to our own beliefs and our own journey.”

Kikki offers a lot of wisdom.

Recorded on March 14, 2025 at the Friday, NA Secular Speaker Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

In this episode we hear from Kris who tells her story as an atheist in this program because, in her words, it is the core of what we do here. She starts at the beginning of her personal story and shares about the first try of the NA program which she gave up because she was told point blank that she could not get clean without a god-like higher power and no matter how much she tried, she just couldn’t find faith.

Twelve years later, in 2021 during Covid Kris walked into a virtual online secular NA meeting, and it was mind blowing because person after person got up and shared and didn’t say they needed god to get them through the program. That began Kris’ true recovery and she keeps coming back; going to meetings 5 days a week, hosting meetings, and being heavily involved in secular NA behind the scenes.

Recorded on Jan 31, 2025 at the Friday, NA Secular Speaker Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

Our speaker for this episode is Eric, well-known in secular NA circles for his intelligence, insights, and honesty. In this share, Eric goes back 30 years and reflects on the thoughts and feelings of his non-linear journey of recovery. He specifically explains how the NA program and the 12 steps were so important in his recovery. We appreciate his words of hope and encouragement. Recorded on Feb 14, 2025 at the Friday, NA Secular Speaker Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]

Our speaker for this very first episode is Raj who summarizes his addictions as using each of his drugs of choice “until the wheels fell off.” Raj shares how he was finally able to get clean and concludes his story by touching briefly on each of the 12 steps of NA - from a secular perspective. This is a share that you won’t want to miss! Recorded on Feb 28, 2025 at the Friday, NA Secular Speaker Meeting.

For more information on recovery from addiction through Narcotics Anonymous 12 step program from a secular, non-religious approach, please check out secularna.org

** This podcast is not formally affiliated in any way with Narcotics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous World Services. **

Comments are welcome. Email to: [email protected]