It’s a rewarding experience that also reinforces the sponsor’s own recovery. AA is built on the idea of peer support, learning from those who have walked the same path. AA membership is open to anyone with a desire to stay sober; the only requirement is the willingness to recover.
the power to carry that out.
Step 9 begins by revisiting your Step 8 list and working with a sponsor to determine the best way to approach each amends. It’s essential to prioritize humility and sincerity, making direct contact where appropriate and avoiding harm where necessary. This step is also where we begin to experience the powerful promises outlined in the Big Book. They describe the profound freedom and peace that result from making amends and living in integrity.
Step 8: “Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.”
Step 2 introduces the concept of a higher power into the recovery process. This step is about believing that something greater than yourself can restore you to a sane state of mind. While many interpret this higher power as God, it doesn’t have to be a religious entity. It could be the collective wisdom of a support group, the serenity of nature, or even a personal value system. Welcome to an in-depth exploration of the history of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and its groundbreaking 12 Steps Program. Additionally, we’ll touch on how this influential program has been integrated into Pennsylvania substance abuse treatment programs.
- Their meeting had an immediate impact on Dr. Bob S., who soon achieved sobriety, marking the formal beginning of AA.
- “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” Step 3 in the Twelve Steps of AA builds upon the previous step and asks you to turn over your life to a higher power.
- Founded in 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was established with the intent of helping people with alcohol use disorders.
- They include core values like group conscience, common welfare, and one ultimate authority.
- The process of taking a personal inventory, making amends, and continuing daily self-reflection allows such people who once felt hopeless to experience freedom and purpose.
Step 4: “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
It’s not about being judged—it’s about getting honest and breaking the cycle of isolation. Step 5 is where we take the truths uncovered in Step 4 and share them openly with a sponsor or spiritual advisor. It’s not enough to simply write out our inventory—this step asks us to speak it aloud to another person and to God, breaking free from the isolation and secrecy that fueled our addiction. Step 5 offers us the freedom that comes from being fully known and accepted, making room for genuine healing and spiritual growth. The Big Book describes “sanity” in Step 2 as being restored from the mental obsession—the irrational thinking that drives us back to substances despite knowing the harm they cause. It’s not about perfection but freedom from the destructive cycle of addiction.
Step 10 helps us stay spiritually fit by practicing daily self-reflection and accountability. This step encourages us to remain aware of our thoughts, behaviors, and emotional state as we continue in our recovery. It’s not about perfection but staying honest with ourselves and making corrections as needed to maintain emotional sobriety. Step 10 keeps us free from the buildup of unresolved resentments and harmful behaviors that can threaten our progress.
- Yes, Carolina Center for Recovery offers a comprehensive 12-Step AA program as part of its evidence-based treatment approach in North Carolina.
- It also encourages you to be accountable not just to yourself, but also to your support network and higher power, reinforcing the behavioral changes you’ve been working on.
- This service to others is paramount because without it, Alcoholics Anonymous would not exist.
- Contact us and we can begin the process of building a life worth living.
Twelve Steps Principles
The only requirement for AA membership is the desire to stop drinking. Alcoholics Anonymous is completely free – there are no fees to join an AA group. The organization supports itself through contributions from the community. Whether you’re exploring AA for yourself or someone else, remember that the journey is personal, and progress is more important than perfection. This step emphasizes mindfulness, whether through prayer, meditation, or reflection. It’s about staying connected to a source of guidance and developing inner peace to help maintain sobriety.
When followed as written in the Big Book and worked with a sponsor, the Twelve Steps have proven to be a powerful path to lasting sobriety and emotional healing. This proven path works because it addresses the core of addiction—self-centered fear, dishonesty, and resentment—by focusing on personal accountability, spiritual growth, and helping others. The structured approach outlined in the Big Book takes us through a series of spiritual actions that have helped millions recover.
This step involves a conscious decision to entrust our lives and will to a higher power, however we personally understand that power. The Big Book emphasizes being open-minded and setting aside preconceived judgments about spirituality. Many of us find this belief by witnessing others in recovery who once felt just as lost but now live with peace and purpose. I didn’t have it all figured out when I started, but when I saw people staying sober and free, I was willing to trust the process—and you can too, no matter what you believe in. This stage challenges us to get completely honest with ourselves, God, and another person about the patterns of our past.
Our experienced staff will develop a personalized treatment plan based on past traumas and/or other co-occurring illnesses. One of the most important rules in 12-Step programs like AA and NA is the principle of anonymity. The phrase “What you hear here, stays here” is often echoed in meetings to underscore the confidentiality that members are expected to uphold. This allows individuals to speak openly about their struggles without fear of judgment or repercussions.
Learn About Addiction
For me, this moment came when I finally stopped trying to control my addiction and surrendered fully. I spoke the Step 3 prayer aloud, and something changed—I felt a weight lifted, and I knew I wasn’t fighting alone anymore. Making this decision with complete honesty opened the door for everything that followed in recovery. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous the twelve steps of alcoholics anonymous alcoholics anonymous explains that we suffer from a mental obsession that drives us to take the first drink or drug, despite the pain it brings. Once we do, a physical allergy kicks in, triggering the phenomenon of craving that make stopping nearly impossible. Unmanageability isn’t just chaos around us—it’s the inability to control our thoughts, actions, and emotional stability; the spiritual malady of the alcoholic and addict.
Step 5 involves admitting “the exact nature of our wrongs”—not just what we did, but the deeper patterns of selfishness, fear, and harm that our actions revealed. The Big Book explains that this step is vital for spiritual progress, as keeping secrets fuels shame and blocks us from true freedom. Sharing these truths with someone we trust helps us release the emotional weight we’ve carried.