12 steps

The 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and of other 12-step programs, are a suggested program of recovery. The purpose of the 12 steps is to achieve a spiritual awakening, which allows a person who suffers from addiction or compulsion to live comfortably without engaging in active addiction. By working the 12 steps, alcoholics have found an ability to live useful and productive lives, and to help others recover from alcoholism. Similarly, the 12 steps have been modified for use in other programs, and have proven to be an incredible tool in recovery from a variety of addictions and compulsions. Many people in recovery, as well as psychologists and doctors, believe that addiction and compulsion have underlying mental, emotional and spiritual causes. Proponents of the 12 steps believe that the 12 steps are a highly effective tool in addressing these underlying causes.

The twelve steps for Alcoholics Anonymous are as follows:

1 We admitted that 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 of our affairs.

(Source: Alcoholics Anonymous)