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. 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. We also have the 12 steps for different scholarships and invite you to select the scholarship that addresses the behavior most important to you.
With AA, not everyone has the ability to understand what it means to consider all the steps after completing them. We strive to provide information, tools and resources to work on a 12-step program (or any program that uses the 12-step principles for recovery) in the simplest and most effective way possible. Because these 12 steps of AA are simple words, they can be interpreted in a much broader sense, which can be useful for those in recovery who don't feel that the steps are speaking directly to them, for example, those who are not religious. 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.
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. While it is true that the 12 steps were originally based on the principles of a spiritual organization, the world is not the same as it was in 1935 when AA and the 12-step program were founded. The 12-step approach to rehabilitation treatment is adopted around the world, so you can find support wherever you are or wherever you go. The Big Book also describes the 12 principles of AA, which are unique words that encompass the virtues needed to pass each step.
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