The first step of the twelve steps to recovery is one of the most important steps. This is the step where you admit that you've spoiled it and that you can't overcome your addiction on your own. It prepares you for the second step where you will find your higher power that you will rely on throughout your recovery process. At Recreate Life Counseling, we place great emphasis on 12-step immersion.
Our addiction recovery program focuses on each of the 12 principles of AA, and we require that each of our clients participate in daily 12 Step meetings. We encourage our clients to find a sponsor while they are undergoing treatment and start working on the 12 steps. We teach our clients about the importance of each step and how the principle behind each step will end up playing a vital role in their lives. In many ways, the first step is the most important of the 12, because it requires us to recognize that we need help to change course.
At the same time, many may find this step difficult, as it requires us to admit that we have allowed our lives to reach a level that is now “unmanageable”. Is AA right for you? To find out, it's important to carefully explore the principles of AA. For Wilson and Smith, surrendering to a “higher power” was an integral part of developing their plan. Today, some critics of the program find that aspect of AA problematic, arguing that self-empowerment is an effective way to control addiction and achieve lasting recovery.
The first step in AA is to admit your helplessness, which boils down to a level of honesty that many addicts have not achieved until now. Many people under the spell of addiction or alcoholism think that “it's not that bad or that they can” stop at any time. Step 2 is about finding faith in some higher power, and the accompanying principle of hope means that you should never give up that faith, even when you suffer a setback. This virtue is easy to understand when it comes to practicing it on a daily basis.
In recovery, not every moment will be positive, but if you keep that hope and faith alive, you will return to the other side. Step 4, which involves documenting all the mistakes you've made, is clearly linked to courage. Part of your past will be painful, and you may have to deal with some of your biggest regrets. Living courageously means that you can start from scratch without forgetting your past completely.
Step 5 consists of taking the moral inventory made in step 4 and admitting first to God, to yourself and finally to another person. You can practice integrity in your recovery by talking about everything that makes you feel guilty and your mistakes. Basically, having integrity is living honestly. In step 6, you need to prepare to have your sins taken away by admitting to yourself that you are fully ready to overcome them.
Will as a virtue means that you have to be prepared to be acquitted in order to move forward without looking back. You must have a good disposition in everything you do. In step 4, you catalogued your past, and in step 6, you admitted them and freed yourself from guilt and shame. Step 7 is to be willing to free yourself from your past.
In step 8, you ask God for forgiveness, or another higher power. Step 10 refers very clearly to its own principle. It's one thing to take a personal inventory and admit our mistakes once. Discipline is needed to continue doing this throughout life.
Step 11 tries to move forward without losing the notion of a higher power. The ongoing awareness that this requires makes it easy to match the step with the principle that accompanies it. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) identifies many national groups that offer an alternative approach to the Twelve Steps. Known as the Great Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, the publication not only changed the conversation about alcoholism, but also catapulted the Twelve Step recovery model to the public.
Don't forget that recovery support groups such as AA, NA, and SMART Recovery are an important part of this step. By exploring the steps in depth and seeing how others have applied the principles in their lives, you can use them to gain insight into your own experiences and to gain strength and hope in your own recovery. The definition of recovery support varies for each person; it could be someone who helps you continue your 12-step education, teaches you more about each specific step, or even a partner who introduces you to others in recovery. Bob, during the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the 12 Steps are a recovery program designed to help people suffering from alcoholism and addiction achieve lasting and satisfied sobriety.
The steps are intended to be addressed in sequential order, but there is no right way to approach them. Recovery Centers of America fully embraces the 12 steps as an effective approach to ongoing recovery, especially when combined with other addiction treatment methodologies, such as behavioral therapies, psychiatric care, and drug-assisted treatment (MAT) (where clinically appropriate). Don't feel like you're ready to quit AA just because you've gone through the 12 steps of AA once. You will find yourself repeating the 12 steps of aa over and over again as a means to safeguard your sobriety.
Living with the principle of service means that it is your responsibility to help others as they helped you when you started working on the 12 steps. The Twelve Steps are a set of guiding principles in addiction treatment that describe a course of action to address problems such as alcoholism, drug addiction and compulsion. Love is empathy and compassion, and Step 8 asks you to make a list of all the people you've hurt on your journey to where you are now. .
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