12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
The 12 steps of recovery, originally defined by Alcoholics Anonymous,
are now used by many diverse groups such as Narcotics Anonymous,
Overeaters Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous and other organizations,
treatment centers, hospitals, etc. that deal with alcoholism, chemical
dependency and substance abuse of various forms. At A Friend
of Bill's, our
clients pledge to follow a 12 step program of recovery and attend
various 12 step meetings in the area such as those offered by Alcoholics
Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Here are the 12 steps as presented
in Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous:
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives
had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than
ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn
our will and our lives over to the care of God as we
understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted
to God, to ourselves and to another human being the
exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these
defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our short comings.
- Made a list of all
persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends
to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,
except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued
to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly
admitted it.
- 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.
- 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.
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