{"id":16134,"date":"2020-10-17T10:25:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-17T14:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=16134"},"modified":"2020-10-21T13:09:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T17:09:51","slug":"the-aa-12-step-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-aa-12-step-program\/","title":{"rendered":"The AA 12-Step Program: Rules and Major Actions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the AA 12-Step Program? What are the 12 steps of recovery?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AA 12-Step Program is a widely used method for recovering addicts. Originated in The Big Book<\/a>, the 12 steps of recovery are now utilized to combat other addiction diseases as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to understand the AA 12-Step Program and how the 12 steps of recovery work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What Is the AA 12-Step Program?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are run by local groups. These groups are autonomous and not managed by a central organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There must be no fees or dues to join the AA 12-Step Program. This work is not meant to be used to earn a profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All members must remain anonymous to the public. This makes sure members focus on the principles and the work, not on personalities. They are able to focus on the 12 steps of sobriety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 12 Steps of Recovery<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Alcoholics Anonymous originated the famous AA 12-Step Program, which is now broadly used in addiction recovery outside of alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll cover the 12 steps of sobriety in their original phrasing, then discuss each in more detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol\u2013that our lives had become unmanageable. <\/li>
  2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. <\/li>
  3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. <\/li>
  4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. <\/li>
  5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. <\/li>
  6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. <\/li>
  7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. <\/li>
  8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. <\/li>
  9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. <\/li>
  10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. <\/li>
  11. We sought through prayer and meditation<\/a> 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. <\/li>
  12. 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.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Largely speaking, the 12 steps of sobriety in the AA 12-Step Program fall into three themes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n