Almost everyone knows of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and their massively successful 12-step program. Pop culture has thrust this program into the spotlight, and with good reason—it works for many people. However, the benefits of a 12-step treatment program are not limited to recovery from alcohol, as numerous other groups have taken the core principles and adapted them for other addictions.
If you need addiction therapy in Massachusetts, the community of Evoke Waltham is ready to welcome you with open arms. We provide safe, welcoming rehab facilities for anyone seeking to overcome their drug or alcohol use disorder. We offer various programs, services, and therapies that can be customizable to each patient’s requirements. We also have programs that take the 12-step approach to sober living for almost any type of substance use. To learn more about 12-step treatment programs, contact us at 866.276.1920.
What Are 12-Step Treatment Programs?
12-step programs are an essential part of recovery for many individuals who suffer from alcohol and drug addiction. They provide a supportive and structured environment to allow individuals to take responsibility for their lives and make positive changes in their behavior and attitudes while maintaining sobriety. The core idea is that individuals can help each other achieve and maintain sobriety.
The 12-step program is based on the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) program, developed in the 1930s by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, both of whom had an alcohol addiction. The program holds the belief that alcoholism is a disease that can be defeated through spiritual principles, fellowship with other people in recovery, and rigorous honesty about one’s struggles with addiction. The 12 steps are used as a guideline to live one’s life to abstain from alcohol or drug use.
What Happens in a 12-step Therapy Program?
The 12-step program involves regular meetings with individuals recovering from drug or alcohol addiction. During these meetings, members share their experiences, provide mutual support and encouragement, and work through each step together. The program is based on the one followed by the original Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group.
However, it has been successfully adapted to various other groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, and Gamblers Anonymous. Despite the program originating from a spiritual perspective, many nonreligious people still benefit from this approach to recovery. People of different belief systems are encouraged to interpret a higher power however they see fit.
The 12 Steps
The 12 steps are as follows, adapted for different fellowships:
- Admit you are powerless over addiction – That our lives have become unmanageable.
- Come to believe that a Power greater than yourself could restore us to sanity
- Decide to turn your will and lives over to the care of God as you understand God
- Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself
- Admit to God, yourself, and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
- Entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
- Humbly ask God to remove your shortcomings
- Make a list of all persons you have harmed and become willing to make amends to them all
- Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when doing so would injure them or others
- Continue to take personal inventory and, when you were wrong, promptly admit it
- Seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as you understand God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for you and the power to carry that out
- Having had a spiritual awakening from these steps, you try to carry this message to others in recovery and practice these principles in all your affairs.
The 12-step program provides a framework for individuals struggling with addiction to work through their challenges meaningfully. At the same time, they receive the necessary support from like-minded people who are going through similar struggles. It is important to note that while following the 12 steps may lead one toward sobriety, it is a tool used in conjunction with other forms of treatment, such as counseling or medication.
Reach Out to Evoke Waltham
Recovering from addiction at a treatment center with a great location and state-of-the-art facilities is possible. At Evoke Waltham, we help each patient to live a full, rich life in recovery. Our team of addiction specialists and large community offer non-judgmental and extensive support from detox to aftercare. Contact us at 866.276.1920 today to learn more about 12-step treatment programs and how we can help.
