The 12 steps recovery program are guidelines that ensure people achieve and maintain abstinence from addictive substances or behaviours. The guides lay a framework from which an individual can surrender their addiction, process their experiences, and move forward into a new life.
Types of Addiction That Need 12 Steps Recovery Program.
- Alcohol
- Drug and other substance abuse
- Eating
- Family
- Sex
- Love
Purpose of the 12 Steps Recovery Program.
- Enables people to recover from compulsive and out of control behaviors.
- Restoring manageability of a person’s life.
- Bringing order to one’s life.
How the 12 Steps Recovery Program Work
People are always encouraged to take an honest to look at their own lives, then move away from their egos and start to rebuild bit by bit.
“Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves.
There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average.
There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them recover if they have the capacity to be honest.
If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it—then you are ready to take certain steps.”
The Steps Include
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Description of the steps
- Honesty- recovery begins when one stops self-denial and accepts being powerless over addiction.
- Faith- people under restoration are required to believe that before a higher power operates upon them for change, they should believe in the power first.
- Surrender- recovery process is lifetime self-will.
- Soul searching-recovery for those who want to recover should know it is a process and not a one-time event.
- Integrity- those under recovery should be truthful to their actions during the process. It is always the hardest step to adhere to, but it provides the best opportunity for growth.
- Acceptance- victims are expected to accept their defects in character and should be willing to let them go.
- Humility- victims are required to ask the higher power to do something that cannot be done by self-will or self-determination.
- Willingness- becoming willing to adopt the amends is also a difficult part other than just making a list of those under recovery to encourage one to do so.
- Forgiveness- for people serious about their recovery process, this becomes an excellent medicine for their spirit and soul.
- Maintenance- it is encouraged to maintain a good recovery process.
- Making contact- people should discover the good plans that God has with them.
- Service- people are encouraged to share with others similar needs for recovery from their various addictions.
The steps encourage the following:
- Honesty
- Patience
- Humility
- Acceptance
- Courage
- Compassion
- Forgiveness
- Self-discipline
Advantages of the 12 Steps Recovery Program
- It gives people the ability to recognize and admit that they are experiencing an addiction problem.
- You surrender to the fact that addiction exists and there is a need to seek control through the guides.
- People have a chance to practice restraint and build their self-esteem in their positive capabilities.
- People develop compassion both for those suffering from the addictions, the families and friends affected or those struggling with the addiction.
- The steps provide essential tools that make the recovery process continuous throughout an individual’s life.
- They are widely known, well established, and organized.
- Those suffering from substance abuse have an opportunity to network with fellow peers with similar problems.
- It is usually easy to find a meeting where 12 steps are practiced.
- There is minimal to no cost to those in need.
Disadvantages of the 12 Steps Recovery Program
- Some people do tend to stay away from being part of group settings
- The groups having anonymous nature, there is a lack of official success rates
- The steps are criticized for not addressing the needs of people with mental illness
- When 12 steps were developed many centuries ago, science had yet little to prove the genetic link to addiction
- Some people are uncomfortable with the specific religious aspects of the 12 program being that it originated from a Christian point
- The program has been altered by many groups to suit their need. For instance, native Americans have combined the 12 steps with the native American concept of the medicine wheel to create a program specifically meant to help native Americans struggling with alcohol and drug addiction
- Some people have come up with similar ideas to integrate the basic concepts of the 12 steps into their cultural framework that make sense to the members of that culture
- The steps are perceived to be male-dominated, spiritual and targeted towards the older population
In conclusion, the 12 steps have been proven to be working for people suffering from addiction despite the variations. Addiction is often characterized by compulsive drug seeking behaviors or the intense desire to use them despite severe medical, social damage, or death that can result from this. Some alternatives have also been developed over the years to help curb addiction and enhance the recovery process.
Reference
Alcoholics Anonymous. (2017). This is A.A. An introduction to the A.A. Recovery Program