Author: Alex Thompson

12 Step AA Programs: 12 Steps to Recovery for Addiction

Call our hotline at to discuss further treatment options and get the information you need to continue your journey on the road to recovery. Though the original Twelve Steps of AA have been adapted over time, the premise of each step remains the same for all recovery programs that use a 12-step model. For many people, these groups may serve as their primary resource for changing their behavior, but they also often augment formal treatment.

Faith-Based Rehabilitation Programs

  1. Alcoholics with limited funds may choose to pay for beer or liquor rather than electricity, food, or rent.
  2. S.O.S. is focused on helping people overcome addictions by focusing on their values and integrity rather than embracing a higher power.
  3. In the United States, you can also find rehab centers near you at FindTreatment.gov.

Residential treatment programs, sometimes referred to as inpatient treatment programs, provide the highest level of rehab services for individuals suffering from alcohol addiction. Residential programs are offered at professional rehab facilities, providing an alcohol-free environment that eliminates any potential triggers and temptations to drink. Programs usually start with medically managed detox and require individuals to live on site for the duration of the program. Residential rehab may include medical care, mental health services, administration of medications, group and individual counseling, behavioral therapy, experiential workshops, and wellness and fitness activities.

Abstinence stage

The first phase is called acute withdrawal, and symptoms tend to be physical, like nausea, insomnia, or even tremors and seizures. If these symptoms make it harder for you to stay sober, medications may help. For instance, getting enough sleep and exercise and eating well are good habits that make you a stronger person. You also want to find activities to replace drinking, things you can turn to when cravings strike. Other steps are to put together a support system of family and friends and to join a support group. Recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) is about more than avoiding alcohol.

Most residential treatment programs include individual and group therapy, support groups, educational lectures, family involvement, and activity therapy. After approximately 90 days of continuous abstinence, you will move from the early abstinence stage of recovery to the third stage, maintaining abstinence. If you started in a residential treatment program, you will now move to the continuing or follow-up counseling phase of your rehab program on an outpatient basis.

Residential Rehabilitation

Support groups provide helpful literature, a safe place to share concerns, and a network of people to turn to as needed. People who begin drinking socially or recreationally may find themselves drinking larger amounts more frequently. Although alcohol is legal and easily accessible, it can be as harmful and addictive as illicit substances. People who begin drinking socially or recreationally may find themselves drinking larger amounts more frequently, and eventually, they may feel unable to relax or enjoy themselves without it.

They don’t like basing their recovery on the idea that they cannot control their addiction, when there is evidence that there are ways of practicing internal control over the recovery process. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) originated the idea for the 12-Step model in 1938, when founder Bill Wilson wrote out the ideas that he had been developing through his experience with alcohol use. He wrote about the positive effects experienced when people struggling with alcohol use disorder shared their stories with one another.

Step Programs: 12 Steps to Recovery from Addiction

It calls for life changes that include finding the reasons why alcohol became so important in your life and figuring out healthy ways to manage those things. In the early hours and days of your rehab, you probably will have some ambivalent feelings about giving up your drug of choice permanently, and you may think that your substance abuse problem is not as bad as others’. Ambivalence and denial can be your worst enemies in the first days of your recovery. When you reach out for help from a professional alcohol and drug rehab program, you begin the first stage of your recovery, treatment initiation. Medicare and Medicaid are federal and state-funded health insurance programs that offer alcohol treatment assistance to those in need.

To learn more about AAC’s various treatment centers throughout the country, call . The 12-Step program, first developed and used by Alcoholics Anonymous, is a 12-Step plan in order to overcome addictions and compulsions. The basic premise of this model is that people can help one another achieve and maintain abstinence from substances, but that healing cannot come about unless people with addictions surrender to a higher power.

More on Substance Abuse and Addiction

So far, there’s no consensus on the medical definition of recovery in alcohol treatment literature. If you’re ready to make a positive change, here’s what you may want to know about the recovery process. In addition to changing your outlook on life with a therapy like CBT, you’ll want to make a break from people and situations that encourage drinking. People who are addicted to alcohol require large amounts of it to feel drunk, as their tolerance to it increases because of frequent use. Alcoholics with limited funds may choose to pay for beer or liquor rather than electricity, food, or rent. By Buddy TBuddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism.

A big part is learning about yourself and dealing with the negative thoughts and actions that may have pushed you to find relief in drinking. Even though self-care and smart life skills are always important, this is the time to start seeing the bigger picture, become more involved with the world, and reach out to help others in your life. These positive connections can help you avoid temptations and relapses. The 12-Step movement can be a powerful and helpful force for many people, but some people struggle with what they interpret as a strong religious element in the program. Many addiction treatment programs offer alternatives to 12-Step methodology for those who prefer a more secular foundation for treatment.

SMART Recovery and similar groups use a peer-sharing model but don’t rely on the idea of surrender. Instead, these groups promote empowerment of the individual to exercise control over the treatment of and recovery from addiction. Yes, all American Addiction Centers (AAC) rehab locations offer 12-Step programming as a therapy modality for addiction treatment.