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Explaining the 12 Step Programs for Addiction Recovery

If you’ve been to an Alcoholics Anonymous group, you’ve probably heard about the 12 steps of recovery.  But what are they? What do they mean? Well, the Twelve Steps are said to be the spiritual foundation for recovery from drug addiction, alcoholism, as well as compulsion.

In this article, you will gain insights on the meaning of the 12 steps. Please keep reading.

What Are the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous?

The 12 steps are guiding principles for addiction treatment or AA. They highlight the strategies for dealing with alcoholism, drug addiction, as well as compulsion problems.

The 12 steps include:

Step 1 – Honesty: We admitted we were powerless over our addiction – that our lives had become unmanageable.

Addicts tend to live a life of denial. That said, treatment should begin when you accept that you have an addiction problem, and that you have no power over it.

It is important that your significant others accept and admit that you have no power over the addiction problem.

Step 2 – Faith: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

In order to realize the work of a higher power in your life, it is important that you believe that it can. Your ability to develop faith during this time is critical to your recovery journey, and you will open yourself up to the spiritual world.

Step 3 – Surrender: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.

Having freedom is thrilling. However, if your life has been engulfed by addiciton, it is critical that you surrender all to a higher power. If you live things in his able hands, you will be able to pay attention to your recovery journey without a need for control.

Step 4 – Soul Searching: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

It is important to note that recovery is not a one-time process. On the contrary, recovery is a lifetime process. The process begins by acknowleding your mistakes and the impact they’ve had on other people. That way, you can begin to take steps to correct them, and to formulate the necessary actions.

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

Being honest with a higher power is probably one of the most difficult things to do. However, being honest to yourself and another person is the ultimate test. This step allows you to be honest with yourself, God and others. It allows you to let go of previous burdens and to forge forward.

Step 6 – Acceptance: Were entirely ready to have God remove all of these defects of character.

Once you’ve acknowledged your faults, you must be willing to separate the faults from your character. This is a critical step because your faults may have become part of you.

Step 7 – Humility: Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.

If you are fully ready to have your mistakes removed, it is important that you ask God to take away your inadequacies. This may not be an easy step, but it is important that you are aware of the faults you want God to take away.

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

Making amends with friends, family and acquaintances is critical to your recovery process. It is important that you make a list of people you harmed before starting your recovery journey.

You must be willing to make amends in order to relieve yourself of the burdens. This will help you live a selfless life.

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

Making amends with the people in your list requires that you be courageous and strong. You need to approach the individuals so that you can bury the hatchet.

Step 10 – Maintenance: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

It is never easy to admit that one is on the wrong. However, it is important to prove that you’re genuine about what you said. If you apologize, let your actions speak for you.

Do not continue with the wrongful behavior. In essence, this step enables you to be selfless and to maintain healthy relationships.

Step 11 – Making Contact: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.

Perhaps you didn’t have a relationship with a higher power prior to starting your recovery journey. This step allows you to discover and understand God’s plan for your life. Therefore, praying and meditating regularly are critical during this stage.

Step 12 – Service: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

This step invovles sharing your experience with significant others. It also entails living your life based on the principles of the 12 step program. Do not forget to share the steps with loved ones.

Final Thoughts!

The 12 steps programs for addiction recovery are very beneficial to the recovery process. What’s more, the 12 steps approach can be combined with other techniques including addiction therapy, life skills coaching, and meditation.