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Informative Articles

Accessing Your Spiritual Guidance
For the last 35 years, I have been working with individuals, couples and families, as well as business relationships. I have 8 published books on relationships and healing, some of them best-sellers. In the first half of my career, I worked as a...
Conservative Radio Host's Prescription Drug Addiction Story
In recent years, the prescription drug addictions of many public figures have come to light. One of the most tragic personal prescription drug addiction stories in recent years is that of radio commentator Rush Limbaugh. He achieved a level of fame,...
Getting to the Bottom of Addiction Myths
There are many myths about addictions. This is my attempt to clear a few of them up. One myth that is pretty popular is the one claiming that positive addictions are good for you. There is no such thing as a positive addiction, addictions are...
Narcissism, Substance Abuse, and Reckless Behaviours
Pathological narcissism is an addiction to Narcissistic Supply, the narcissist's drug of choice. It is, therefore, not surprising that other addictive and reckless behaviours – workaholism, alcoholism, drug abuse, pathological gambling,...
Relieving Chemical Addictions - With Dietary Supplements
It is not uncommon for those who remain totally chemically free to simply substitute their chosen matter with excessive use of another addictive meaning, such as refined sugar, caffein, or nicotine. The term dependence encompasses almost completely...
 

12 Step Programs for treating addictions

The original 12 Step Program is Alcoholics Anonymous - which deals with what they call the "powerlessness" to stop drinking alcohol[1]. The 12 Steps have been adopted by other groups including Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon, and Nar-Anon for people impacted by having or having had alcoholics or addicts in their life. Although Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12 Steps were initially offered for use by alcoholics, application of the 12 Steps to non-alcoholics is described and specifically invited in the book Alcoholics Anonymous[2], where the steps first appeared. The only requirement for membership of an Alcoholics Anonymous Group "is a desire to stop drinking".

All twelve-step programs follow similar versions of the Twelve Steps. Members meet regularly to discuss their experience, strength and hope. Common among all such programs is the view that members are dealing with an illness and addiction rather than a 'bad habit', 'maladaptive behavior' or 'poor lifestyle'. The illness is attributed to a physical allergy that creates uncontrollable cravings coupled with a psychological obsession that keeps finding rationalizations for relapse. Recovery from the illness can occur by taking individual responsibility for one's own recovery and relying on the will of a Higher Power while following the Twelve Steps. True to the Twelve Traditions, twelve-step programs do not take positions on outside issues, including medicine. The word "illness" rather than "disease" was used by Bill Wilson, a co-founder of A.A. and the drafter of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous (which was co-written by the first hundred men to find recovery in A.A.).

One of the most widely-recognized characteristics of twelve-step groups is the requirement that members admit that they "have a problem". In this spirit, many members open their address to the group along the lines of, "Hi, I'm Pam and I'm an alcoholic" — a catchphrase now widely identified with support groups.

Attendees at group meetings share their experiences, challenges, successes and failures, and provide peer support for each other. Many people who have joined these groups report they found success that previously eluded them, while others — including some ex-members — criticize their efficacy or universal applicability. This varied success rate, along with the fact that twelve-step programs have been associated with religion rather than spirituality, has caused some controversy.

The Twelve Steps

These are the Twelve Steps as defined by Alcoholics Anonymous. [1]

  1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

  2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

  3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

  4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

  5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

  6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

  7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

  8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

  9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

  10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

Other twelve-step groups have modified the twelve steps slightly from those of Alcoholics Anonymous to refer to problems other than alcoholism.