Transcript Document

How does 12 Step Recovery
Work?
Insights from
Alcoholics Anonymous,
Narcotics Anonymous,
Cocaine Anonymous,
Emotions Anonymous,
Schizophrenics Anonymous, and
Dual Recovery Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous

“Grand-daddy” of 12-Step fellowships, began in the
1930s

Official A.A. website – http://www.aa.org/

Unofficial Big Book website –
http://www.recovery.org/aa/bigbook/ww/index.html
Alcoholics Anonymous

“Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women
who share their experience, strength and hope with each
other that they may solve their common problem and help
others to recover from alcoholism.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop
drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership;
we are self-supporting through our own contributions. A.A.
is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics,
organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any
controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other
alcoholics to achieve sobriety.”
Alcoholics Anonymous
“Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a
program of recovery:
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.
Alcoholics Anonymous
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
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 shortcomings.
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.
Alcoholics Anonymous
10.
11.
12.
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.
Cocaine Anonymous

Official C.A. website – http://www.ca.org/

C.A.’s First Step reads, “We admitted we
were powerless over cocaine and all other
mind altering substances — that our lives
had become unmanageable.”
Cocaine Anonymous

“Cocaine Anonymous is a fellowship of men
and women who share their experience,
strength and hope with each other that they
may solve their common problem and help
others to recover from their addiction.

The only requirement for membership is a
desire to stop using cocaine and all other
mind-altering substances.”
Narcotics Anonymous

Official N.A. website – http://www.na.org/

N.A.’s First Step reads, “We admitted that we
were powerless over our addiction, that our
lives had become unmanageable”
Narcotics Anonymous

“N.A. is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and
women for whom drugs had become a major
problem. We are recovering addicts who meet
regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a
program of complete abstinence from all drugs.

There is only one requirement for membership, the
desire to stop using. We suggest that you keep an
open mind and give yourself a break. Our program is
a set of principles written so simply that we can
follow them in our daily lives. The most important
thing about them is that they work.”
Emotions Anonymous



Started on July 6, 1971, in St. Paul, Minnesota
by a group of people who during the previous
five years had been members of another
Twelve-Step Program.
As of 1988, there were over 1,500 groups
worldwide.
http://www.emotionsanonymous.org/
Emotions Anonymous

“E.A. is a fellowship of persons who share their
experiences, their strengths, their weaknesses, feelings,
and their hopes with one another to solve their emotional
problems and/or learn to live at peace with unsolved
problems. We come to E.A. to learn to live a new way of
life through the Twelve-Step Program.”

“The only requirement for membership in our fellowship is
an honest desire to become emotionally well and healthy.”
Emotions Anonymous

E.A.’s First Step reads, “We admitted we were
powerless over our emotions – that our lives
had become unmanageable.”

As with other 12-Step Programs, E.A.
describes itself as “a spiritual program, not a
religious one.”
Schizophrenics Anonymous®
Schizophrenics Anonymous®
Mission Statement
“The mission of Schizophrenics Anonymous
is to add the element of self-help group
support to the recovery process of people
suffering from schizophrenia. We hope that
this will contribute to the sense of well being
of S.A. members and help us cope with the
difficulties imposed by the illness.”
Schizophrenics Anonymous

THE NEED FOR MUTUAL SUPPORT
“One of the tragedies of schizophrenia is the
lack of understanding regarding this disorder.
Throughout history, persons with
schizophrenia have suffered banishment,
exile, and discrimination.”
Schizophrenics Anonymous
THE NEED FOR MUTUAL SUPPORT

“Contrary to public misconceptions most
people with schizophrenia are not violent. In
fact, many are rather gentle and are
ultimately victimized by the world around
them. By stigmatizing persons with this
disorder, we further isolate them at a time
when support and acceptance are critical.”
Schizophrenics Anonymous
1.
2.
3.
I SURRENDER . . . I admit I need help. I can’t do it
alone.
I CHOOSE . . . I choose to be well. I take full
responsibility for my choices and realize the choices I
make directly influence the quality of my days.
I BELIEVE . . . I now come to believe that I have been
provided with great inner resources and I will try to use
these resources to help myself and others.
Schizophrenics Anonymous
4.
I FORGIVE . . . I forgive myself for all the mistakes I have
made. I also forgive and release everyone who has injured or
harmed me in any way.
5.
I UNDERSTAND . . . I now understand that erroneous, selfdefeating thinking contributes to my problems, failures,
unhappiness and fears. I am ready to have my belief system
altered so my life can be transformed
6.
I DECIDE . . . I make a decision to turn my life over to the care
of GOD, AS I UNDERSTAND HIM, surrendering my will and
false beliefs. I ask to be changed in depth.
http://www.draonline.org/
“Dual Recovery Anonymous™ is an independent,
nonprofessional, twelve step, self-help
fellowship organization for people with a dual
diagnosis. Our goal is to help men and women
who experience a dual illness. We are chemically
dependent and we are also affected by an
emotional or psychiatric illness. Both illnesses
affect us in all areas of our lives; physically,
psychologically, socially, and spiritually.”
Dual Recovery Anonymous
1.
We admitted we were powerless over our dual illness of
chemical dependency and emotional or psychiatric
illness - that our lives had become unmanageable.
2.
Came to believe that a Higher Power of our understanding
could restore us to sanity.
3.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the
care of our Higher Power, to help us to rebuild our
lives in a positive and caring way.
4.
Made a searching and fearless personal inventory of
ourselves.
Dual Recovery Anonymous
5.
Admitted to our Higher Power, to ourselves, and to
another human being, the exact nature of our liabilities
and our assets.
6.
Were entirely ready to have our Higher Power remove all
our liabilities.
7.
Humbly asked our Higher Power to remove these
liabilities and to help us to strengthen our assets for
recovery.
8.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became
willing to make amends to them all.
Dual Recovery Anonymous
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 wrong promptly
admitted it, while continuing to recognize our progress in
dual recovery.
11.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious
contact with our Higher Power, praying only for knowledge of
our Higher Power's will for us and the power to carry that out.
12.
Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps, we
tried to carry this message to others who experience dual
disorders and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Other areas where the 12-Step Recovery
approach has been applied

Marijuana addiction / Marijuana Anonymous (MA)

Cigarettes, Tobacco, Nicotine addiction / Smokers
Anonymous (SA), Nicotine Anonymous (NA)

Codependency / Alanon, Adult Children of Alcoholics
(ACOA) (ACA), Codependents Anonymous (CODA),
Codependents of Sex Addicts (COSA)

Incest, Sexual Abuse / Survivors of Incest Anonymous
(SIA), Incest Survivors Anonymous (ISA)
Other areas where the 12-Step Recovery
approach has been applied

Gambling / Gamblers Anonymous (GA)

Shoplifting / Kleptomaniacs Anonymous (KA)

Sex addiction / Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA),
Sexaholics Anonymous (SA), Sex and Love Addicts
Anonymous (SLAA), Sex Addiction Overcomers
(SAO)

Food / overeating, obesity, bulimia, anorexia / Overeaters
Anonymous (OA), Food Addicts in Recovery (FA)