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5 Steps to Addiction - Recovery

The History of the 12-Step Program

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) originated the idea for the 12-Step model in 1938, when founder Bill Wilson wrote out the ideas that had been developing through his experience with and vision of alcoholism. He wrote about the positive effects experienced when people struggling with alcoholism shared their stories with one another.

Wilson wrote his program in what has become known as the Big Book. As explained in historical information from the AA site itself, the steps were developed through synthesizing concepts from a few other teachings he had encountered, including a six-step program espoused by an organization called the Oxford Group. In their original form, the 12 Steps came from a spiritual, Christian inspiration that sought help from a greater power as well as from peers suffering from the same addiction struggles.

​The Big Book was originally written as a guide for people who couldn’t attend AA fellowship meetings, but it soon became a model for the program in general. It has since been adopted as a model for a wide range of addiction peer-support and self-help programs designed to help drive behavioral change. In addition to the original Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group, various offshoots now exist, such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Heroin Anonymous (HA), and Gamblers Anonymous (GA).

The 12-Step Practice

​The basic premise of the 12-Step model is that people can help one another achieve and maintain abstinence from the substances or behaviors to which they are addicted. They can do this through meetings in which they share their experiences with one another and support each other in the ongoing effort of maintaining abstinence.

​In research, as seen in a recent article from the journal Addiction Research and Theory, abstinence practices (as supported by 12-Step programs) can account for high levels of what experts call flourishing, which is positive mental health and can contribute to longer-term recovery. In the study, those who maintained abstinence were more likely to flourish in the long-term, with 40.7 percent flourishing after three months (as compared to 9.3 percent languishing) and nearly 40 percent flourishing after 12 months (compared to 12.4 percent languishing). Based on this study, those who abstain altogether from substances – as advised in the 12-Step model – have better mental health outcomes than those who don’t abstain.

​The 12-Step model gives people a framework from which to surrender their addiction, process their experience, and move forward into new patterns. As described in an article on Psych Central called Recovery Using the 12 Steps, following the model assists an individual by helping build the following mental and emotional transformative practices and tools:

• The ability to recognize and admit that one is experiencing an addiction problem.
• A surrender to the fact that the addiction exists and a decision to seek control through an outer guide.
• Self-observation and awareness of the behaviors that were part of and arose from the addiction, as well as those that help promote self-restraint.
  
• A chance to practice that restraint and build self-esteem in one’s positive capabilities.
• Achievement of self-acceptance and the ability to change behaviors.
• Compassion, both for those who have been affected by the addiction and for others who similarly struggle with addiction.
• Tools that make the process a continual practice throughout the individual’s life.
  

By providing these experiences and tools, the 12-Step model can be a method for change in many types of behavior. As a result, it can help individuals who wish to overcome addiction to find a path to recovery.

The 12 Steps, as outlined in the original Big Book and presented by AA are:

1. Admitting powerlessness over the addiction.
2. Believing that a higher power (in whatever form) can help.
3. Deciding to turn control over to the higher power.
4. Taking a personal inventory.
5. Admitting to the higher power, oneself, and another person the wrongs done.
6. Being ready to have the higher power correct any shortcomings in one’s character.
7. Asking the higher power to remove those shortcomings.
8. Making a list of wrongs done to others and being willing to make amends for those wrongs.
9. Contacting those who have been hurt, unless doing so would harm the person.
10. Continuing to take personal inventory and admitting when one is wrong.
11. Seeking enlightenment and connection with the higher power via prayer and meditation.
12. Carrying the message of the 12 Steps to others in need.
    

Alternatives to the 12-Step Model

Some people don’t like or are not interested in the 12-Step model, even with the variations above or through organizations that facilitate the 12-Step model. Some people don’t like basing their recovery on the idea that they cannot control their addiction, when there is evidence that there are ways of practicing internal control over the recovery process.

Some of the programs based on this active control model include groups like SMART Recovery and Moderation Management. These groups use a similar peer-sharing model, but they don’t rely on the idea of surrender. They instead promote the empowerment of the individual to exercise control over the treatment of and recovery from addiction.

What are the chances of relapse after rehab?

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the relapse rate for drug addiction is 40% to 60%. It recommends a treatment program that begins with medical detoxification followed by behavioral therapy and relapse prevention.

How do you prevent relapse?

1. Formulate a plan to avoid relapse. Part of the disease of addiction consists of cravings for drugs or alcohol.
2. Remember rehab. Some rehab facilities offer refresher courses for a small fee or even free of charge.
3. Discuss your disease with your employer. Stress on the job is unavoidable.
4. Take your medications, if prescribed, regularly.
   

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