12 Steps
The 12-Step Program: A Framework for Recovery
The 12-step program is a structured approach to recovery from addiction, first introduced by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in the 1930s. It has since been adapted for a variety of addictions, including Narcotics (Narcotics Anonymous (NA)). The program emphasizes spiritual principles, self-reflection, and peer support, guiding individuals through recovery and promoting long-term sobriety.
Core Principles of the 12-Step Program
The 12 steps are designed to help individuals:
- Acknowledge the Problem: Admit that addiction has become unmanageable and requires intervention.
- Seek Support: Rely on a higher power (spiritual or otherwise) for guidance and strength.
- Take Responsibility: Reflect on past behaviors and their impact on oneself and others.
- Make Amends: Repair relationships and address harm caused during active addiction.
- Commit to Growth: Continue self-improvement and maintain accountability through peer support.
The 12 Steps
Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over our addiction—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Step 2: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Step 5: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step 6: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Step 7: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Step 8:Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
Step 9: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Step 10: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Step 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.
Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
The 12 Traditions
The 12 Traditions of AA/NA serve as guiding principles to maintain the unity and purpose of the fellowship. They focus on group integrity, autonomy, and service rather than individual personalities.
- Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on NA unity.
- For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority – a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
- The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.
- Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or NA as a whole.
- Each group has but one primary purpose— to carry the message to the addict who still suffers.
- A group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA/NA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
- Every group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
- The group should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
- The group, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
- The group has no opinion on outside issues; hence the AA/NA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
- Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
- Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
These traditions help AA/NA groups stay focused on their mission of helping addicts recover while avoiding conflicts or external influences.