12-Step Programs

Addiction recovery is no simple feat. While getting sober can be tough, it’s the continuity of sobriety that poses the real challenge. Detox followed by inpatient or outpatient care helps maintain sobriety in a structured setting before facing real-world challenges. 12-step programs can facilitate healing in a structured environment without judgement and allows you to share your story without shame.

These controlled environments offer a place of comfort, a place of serenity that allows you to manage triggers.

But once people in recovery return to their lives, they find that not much around them has changed except themselves. The purpose of treatment is to gain tools and apply those principles to triggers and temptations they will face.

Even with alumni programs fostering sober connections, moments of loneliness can trigger relapse and a return to old habits.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), an estimated 40-60 percent of those who obtain sobriety will relapse. It notes that while addiction is a treatable disorder, there is no cure.

Relapse does not mean addiction treatment has failed, and it is often noted that relapse is a part of recovery. Even though relapse happens, what matters is recognizing it as a step and taking the next step back into treatment.

The 12-step program has created a path toward sobriety over the course of its 83 years of existence. There are people from all backgrounds that are the beneficiaries of Alcoholics Anonymous. It preaches the idea of spirituality and self-awareness to grow from within and abstaining from drugs and alcohol. This methodology has a proven track record of sobriety with millions of people to back it up.

Below we will go in-depth about how the 12-step program works, and how it’s used for success.

What are 12-Step Programs?

The 12-step model believes people can support each other in achieving and maintaining abstinence from addictive substances or behaviors. This is done through meetings where they share their experience, strength, and hope with each other and offer support.

12-step programs require only one thing for membership: a genuine desire to stop using, drinking, or engaging in harmful behaviors. Meetings are free, and there are no leaders, no therapists or other medical professionals, and no accountability for attendance.

Members are encouraged, not required, to complete the twelve steps with a sponsor experienced in sobriety and program success. Only first names are used to protect anonymity, and discussing other members outside the program is strictly prohibited.

The 12-step program offers various self-help groups aimed at guiding individuals toward recovery from addictions and related disorders. It follows structured steps serving as a practical guide for members to stop using drugs, alcohol, or other addictive substances.

The program’s goal is ending substance use, but a common misconception is that this is the 12-step model’s only purpose. The reason behind this is teaching lessons of spiritual ideas and experience as a result of personal growth.

Accepting one as who they are through spiritual growth and admitting they are powerless over so much. This realization allows for true growth.

Addiction is not just a disease of the mind and body; the use of drugs/alcohol also affects the spirit. When someone begins to take on a different set of spiritual principles and becomes reliant on a support network of recovering drug/alcohol users, it allows for change of self-destructive behaviors.

The only way to achieve this is admitting there is an actual problem that needs to change. Upon acceptance of powerlessness to drugs, alcohol, and destructive behaviors, the next step is to allow a higher power to take control of your life. Once this has taken place, it is possible to move on and accept help and guidance from the higher power and other members.

Self-reflection in this process is also key, and you’ll start becoming aware of flaws and mistakes that took place during drug or alcohol use. Honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness are the three key steps to success in the 12-step program.

The 12-step program possesses the options of being used on it’s own, or as continued treatment of those who have successfully completed drug rehab or alcohol rehab. As mentioned earlier in the article, it’s the continuity of sobriety that is the most difficult, and this allows for the long-term recovery of overcoming triggers.

The History of 12-Step Therapy

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) can be traced back to a religious group previously known as the “Oxford Group.” They were a movement that was popular in the United States and Europe in the early 20th century. Members of this group would practice a formula of self-improvement. They did this by performing self-inventory, admitting wrongs, making amends, prayer, and meditation. It was achieved by carrying this message to others and has continued until today. The message was simple, but it was letting go and accepting that could prove to be more difficult.

During the 1930s, a man from Rhode Island named Rowland H. visited a Swiss psychoanalyst by the name of Carl Jung in search of treatment for his chronic alcoholism. Jung’s determination was that Rowland’s case was medically hopeless and that his only hope was to seek spirituality for change. With this, he was directed to the Oxford Group.

Later on, Rowland is noted to have introduced a man named Edwin (Ebby) T. Thatcher to the group. The men and several others who were introduced rejoiced in their success of finally obtaining the ability to stop drinking because of the Oxford Group principles.

A man named Bill Wilson also was suffering in the grips of a devastating alcohol addiction.

Wilson was enjoying success as a stockbroker on Wall Street, but his career had been cut short at just 39 years of age because of his inability to quit drinking. He learned that his problem was hopeless, progressive, and irreversible. This is when his old schoolmate from Vermont and former drinking buddy Ebby, had sought out Wilson to carry the message of hope.

Naturally, at first, Wilson was a bit apprehensive of Ebby’s transformational story and the claims of the Oxford Group, but after another stint in the hospital in 1934 for treatment, Wilson gave in and underwent a powerful spiritual experience unlike any he had before. His depression and despair had been lifted, and he felt free. Wilson finally stopped drinking and made it his life’s mission to spread the message that gave him another chance at life, and thus, the roots of Alcoholics Anonymous had been planted.

After this formation of AA, the group’s popularity began to grow. There are AA groups that meet globally, and while no official record is kept of the active members, there is an estimation of 2 million active members worldwide and another 118,000 groups. The 12-step therapy model has been applied to several forms of addiction, starting with Narcotics Anonymous in 1953. Thanks to this message, there are groups today that range from crystal meth addiction to overeating, and will continue on strong for many years to come.

How 12-Step Programs Work

The 12-step process is based on working through each step, going over each with a peer, and spreading positivity to help others achieve their goals.

While there are several elements in this program, the main focus is to guide recovering users through the process of accepting responsibility for failing, taking help from others, and giving it in return.

The Steps

12-step therapy works by taking members by the hand and walking them through each of the steps. Throughout this process, someone will be attached to your hip to demonstrate how the process works. Additionally, they will provide help and support along your path. While every step is formulated to meet a specific goal, they can be broken up into sections of overarching goals.

The first portion is intended to increase awareness that addiction is entirely out of your control. You will need help, outside of one’s own willpower, in the hope of overcoming this disease.

The next set of steps is intended to promote self-examination through what is known as moral inventory. The point is not to dwell on mistakes, but to figure out what you may need to make amends for.

This will be followed by making amends for wrongs done to people in the past as a consequence of using. While others may not be receptive to you, it’s important to accept what has been done that cannot be changed. It may be a difficult step to accomplish, but the potential outcomes will make it a very spiritually rewarding process.

The last steps are never really complete, since recovery is an ongoing process. But those in the program are committed to helping others and paying it forward. The following is the original verbiage from the 12 steps as applied to AA:

1. We admitted 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. Through prayer improving our contact with God, praying 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 our affairs.

Meetings

While the steps are what gives the program its name, meetings are what make the 12-step program. Wilson’s belief was that fellow recovering alcoholics were vital to the success of other recovering alcoholics. Meetings are where members come together and relay their challenges, rejoice in their achievements, share stories, and discuss shortcomings. The sole purpose of meetings is to be welcoming and free of judgment while inspiring confidence in each other. These meetings are open to anyone wanting to attend, including family members.

Sponsors

A sponsor is an active member of AA that helps other members successfully fulfill their roles in Alcoholics Anonymous. They help by reaching goals and working through more of the steps on their spiritual journey. Sponsors are experienced members who have either completed the steps or have displayed significant progress through the steps. Upon entering the program, you have the option to choose your sponsor, but if you’re undecided, you will be directed to a sponsor that is a seemingly good fit.

Once chosen, it’s not someone who is locked in, and you can change sponsors at any time. Sponsors give advice on how to cope with cravings, be readily available to answer texts or calls throughout a given week, give life advice, and be a guide through sobriety.

The Pros and Cons of 12-Step Programs

Like any type of treatment or program, there are advantages and disadvantages associated with 12-step programs.

Let’s take a look at the benefits first:

• Cost – 12-step programs are free, although they are self-supporting so members can make small donations to cover the cost of coffee if they want to.
• Sponsorship – One of the only program models that use sponsorship as a recovery tool.
• Structured meetings – The meetings are on time and structured to a tee.
• Accessibility – There are meetings available at all times of the day, in different areas (including internationally), and with different formats, so there is a lot of support available.
• Fellowship – There is a strong sense of community in 12-step programs, there is usually very little judgment, and most members are helpful and supportive.

Now, let’s look at the drawbacks:

• No accountability – Because 12-step programs are anonymous, there is no accountability for not attending.
• Some attendees are court-ordered – Many courts require defendants of drug and alcohol-related offenses to attend 12-step meetings, so they are not always there for the right reasons, and they may distract other members from getting what they need out of the meetings.
• No therapy – There is no therapy, psychiatric care, or medical professionals in 12-step programs.
• Religious undertones – For those who are not open to religion or spirituality, the religious undertones of some 12-step programs may be off-putting.

Does the 12-Step Model Work?

Because 12-step programs are anonymous and there is no record-keeping of meetings and members, it’s hard to answer this question. Determining how many people are able to get and stay clean using 12-step programs would be, at best, a guess. However, the prominence of these programs and the stories of success from those in recovery suggest that it is effective.

The most effective way to use of 12-step programs is to use them in conjunction with other recovery options. Nearly three-quarters of addiction treatment facilities incorporate the 12 steps into their treatment plans, so when patients complete treatment, it’s likely that they are already familiar with 12-step programs making it easy to continue with them in the future.

12-step programs provide members with support and encouragement from others who are battling addiction successfully, and it places them close to others who understand what they are going through.