12-Step Programs for Addiction: An Overview

Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) is perhaps the best known of the 12-step recovery programs.  A.A. was the first to employ the 12-steps to aid people in recovering from alcoholism; it remains the single, most effective program for treating this disease. For this reason, this best drug rehabs integrate a 12-step program philosophy into their treatment plan.

Because of the recovery rates seen in A.A., these guidelines and principles now serve many types of other addicts as well.   In every corner of the globe you can find 12-step programs related to recovery from: Narcotics (N.A.), Cocaine (C.A.) and Marijuana (M.A.).  Substances are not the only things abused and, so, there are 12-step groups in place to help individuals to recover from addictive behaviors as well.    Gamblers, workaholics and sexaholics can all find recovery through the 12-step programs as well; this is not a complete list – there are many other behaviors and substances which also follow the twelve-steps to begin living a new life.

Twelve-step programs are not a quick fix. In order to reap the benefits that millions of others have received through this recovery process, one must be dedicated to working hard, being honest and to changing the way they once lived their lives. That certainly seems like a “tall order” and it is. The process need not be overwhelming however; the steps are worked one at a time, one day at a time. 

12-Step programs offer recovery in a setting which is typically welcoming and non-threatening.  For the first time, many recovering addicts will meet people who feel exactly as they do. Because so many addicts often live isolated existences, feeling part of a group can be especially rewarding.

There are two types of twelve-step meetings – “open” meetings, where anyone can attend and listen to a speaker describe his/her experience, strength and hope.  Open meetings do not require any participation – many people choose open meetings early-on just to gain insight. “Closed meetings” may be attended only by those who have a desire to quit using their drug of choice.  

Misconceptions about 12-Step programs

• Many people are scared off from attending because they do not want to stand up and have to say “I am Tony and I am an addict/alcoholic”.  You need not admit to your addiction at all; most people go to their first meetings believing they are not, in fact, addicted.  The only requirement to participate in 12-step recovery is “a desire to stop drinking, shopping, gambling, using, etc” That’s it; you simply must have the desire to stop destructive behaviors. You can introduce yourself by name when you are ready to do so; you will not be pressured to do anything you are not comfortable with. 


• Because active addicts are usually quite unhappy, they expect to find a miserable group of people at A.A., N.A., etc.  Addicts often feel “I don’t want to sit around a listen to a bunch of sob stories.”  It usually takes only a meeting or two to discover people in recovery are quite happy and peaceful – living lives that A.A. refers to as “happy, joyous and free.”


• “I don’t belong with those drunks; they are homeless, drinking or drugging under a bridge and don’t have a job”.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Many alcoholics/addicts are high-functioning and live in nice homes.  The disease of addiction does not play favorites; 12-step groups are comprised of doctors, lawyers, housewives, plumbers and people of all age groups.


• “Everyone in my community will know I am an alcoholic/addict”. People who work the twelve steps take “anonymity” very seriously.   Even if encountering another group member on the street, at work, etc. those in recovery never reveal how they know one another.   A common refrain heard at meetings is “What we Hear Here, Stays Here!”

Following is a brief overview of the actual twelve steps:

Step One:  We admitted we were powerless over alcohol/drugs/compulsive behaviors – and that our lives had become unmanageable. It is said that the First Step is the only step you must worked perfectly. No one can begin to recover if they don’t first recognize they have a problem. Important to note: Attendance at meetings does not require you ‘”own the First Step” completely – for most people, acceptance comes with time.

Step Two:  Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. While Twelve-Step programs are said to be based on spiritual principles, it does not mean you must hold any religious beliefs.  “Higher power” simply means you are willing to rely on something or someone greater than yourself in order to recover. Some people refer to God as their Higher Power, some Jesus, Buddha, etc.  Many others, however, rely on the Universe to guide them.   Others, still, rely on the twelve-step group, itself, to be their Higher Power.

Step Three:  Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God – as we understood him.   Once admitting powerlessness and that your life has become unmanageable, you make a decision to turn your life over to something greater than yourself. The first three steps are often summed up this way “I Can’t; He Can; Let Him”.

Step Four: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.  For some, this step is the scariest; it need not be. The Fourth Step is worked only when you are ready to face the liberating truth about yourself.  Most often, this step is worked with your *sponsor,

Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.   For most people in recovery, this “other human being” is their trusted sponsor.

Step Six:  We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.  Step Five requires only that you are “ready” to have your character defects removed.

Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. Humility is at the very core of this recovery process.

Step Eight: Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.  The key words here are “became willing” – Step Eight requires only that.

Step Nine: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.  This may seem to be a daunting task, but like each of the steps, it can be done when you are ready.   Sponsors prove very valuable in determining to whom you might want to make amends.

Step Ten:  Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.  As we live our lives in recovery, it is advised we look at ourselves, motives, actions on a continual basis. When we find we’ve done something wrong we admit it.

Step Eleven:  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 strength to carry that out.

Step Twelve:  Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics/addicts and to practice these principles in all of our affairs. This step can be summed up as “if you want to keep what you have (sobriety), you must give it away”.

(*Sponsor refers to an individual, who has at least one year of continued sobriety, who will work with you on each of the twelve steps.)

It is often said that the 12-steps are merely suggested as a means of achieving recovery. People will long-term sobriety will often say “They’re suggested like it is suggested that you use a parachute when you jump out of an airplane”.