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The 12 Steps of AA
The Twelve Steps are the spiritual and practical foundation used by many AA members to recover from alcoholism.
A gentle place to begin
If drinking has become difficult to control, a meeting can be a simple first step. You do not need to have everything figured out before you walk in.
The programme
The Twelve Steps
The Twelve Steps describe a path from admission and surrender through inventory, amends, spiritual growth, and carrying the message to others.
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- 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.
- 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 practise these principles in all our affairs.
How to approach the Steps
Many people work through the Steps with a sponsor. The Steps are not usually treated as a quick checklist. They are a way of living and growing in recovery.