How does 12 Step Recovery Work? Insights from Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Emotions Anonymous, Schizophrenics Anonymous, and Dual Recovery Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous “Grand-daddy” of 12-Step fellowships, began in the 1930s Official A.A. website – http://www.aa.org/ Unofficial Big Book website – http://www.recovery.org/aa/bigbook/ww/index.html

Alcoholics Anonymous “Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.”

Alcoholics Anonymous “Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery: 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.

Alcoholics Anonymous 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.

Alcoholics Anonymous 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 practice these principles in all our affairs.

Cocaine Anonymous Official C.A. website – http://www.ca.org/ C.A.’s First Step reads, “We admitted we were powerless over cocaine and all other mind altering substances — that our lives had become unmanageable.”

Cocaine Anonymous “Cocaine Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from their addiction. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances.”

Narcotics Anonymous Official N.A. website – http://www.na.org/ N.A.’s First Step reads, “We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable”

Narcotics Anonymous “N.A. is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using. We suggest that you keep an open mind and give yourself a break. Our program is a set of principles written so simply that we can follow them in our daily lives. The most important thing about them is that they work.”

Emotions Anonymous Started on July 6, 1971, in St. Paul, Minnesota by a group of people who during the previous five years had been members of another Twelve-Step Program. As of 1988, there were over 1,500 groups worldwide. http://www.emotionsanonymous.org/

Emotions Anonymous “E.A. is a fellowship of persons who share their experiences, their strengths, their weaknesses, feelings, and their hopes with one another to solve their emotional problems and/or learn to live at peace with unsolved problems. We come to E.A. to learn to live a new way of life through the Twelve-Step Program.” “The only requirement for membership in our fellowship is an honest desire to become emotionally well and healthy.”

Emotions Anonymous E.A.’s First Step reads, “We admitted we were powerless over our emotions – that our lives had become unmanageable.” As with other 12-Step Programs, E.A. describes itself as “a spiritual program, not a religious one.”

Schizophrenics Anonymous®

Schizophrenics Anonymous® Mission Statement “The mission of Schizophrenics Anonymous is to add the element of self-help group support to the recovery process of people suffering from schizophrenia. We hope that this will contribute to the sense of well being of S.A. members and help us cope with the difficulties imposed by the illness.”

Schizophrenics Anonymous THE NEED FOR MUTUAL SUPPORT “One of the tragedies of schizophrenia is the lack of understanding regarding this disorder. Throughout history, persons with schizophrenia have suffered banishment, exile, and discrimination.”

Schizophrenics Anonymous THE NEED FOR MUTUAL SUPPORT “Contrary to public misconceptions most people with schizophrenia are not violent. In fact, many are rather gentle and are ultimately victimized by the world around them. By stigmatizing persons with this disorder, we further isolate them at a time when support and acceptance are critical.”

Schizophrenics Anonymous I SURRENDER . . . I admit I need help. I can’t do it alone. I CHOOSE . . . I choose to be well. I take full responsibility for my choices and realize the choices I make directly influence the quality of my days. I BELIEVE . . . I now come to believe that I have been provided with great inner resources and I will try to use these resources to help myself and others.

Schizophrenics Anonymous I FORGIVE . . . I forgive myself for all the mistakes I have made. I also forgive and release everyone who has injured or harmed me in any way. I UNDERSTAND . . . I now understand that erroneous, self-defeating thinking contributes to my problems, failures, unhappiness and fears. I am ready to have my belief system altered so my life can be transformed I DECIDE . . . I make a decision to turn my life over to the care of GOD, AS I UNDERSTAND HIM, surrendering my will and false beliefs. I ask to be changed in depth.

http://www.draonline.org/ “Dual Recovery Anonymous™ is an independent, nonprofessional, twelve step, self-help fellowship organization for people with a dual diagnosis. Our goal is to help men and women who experience a dual illness. We are chemically dependent and we are also affected by an emotional or psychiatric illness. Both illnesses affect us in all areas of our lives; physically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually.”

Dual Recovery Anonymous We admitted we were powerless over our dual illness of chemical dependency and emotional or psychiatric illness - that our lives had become unmanageable. Came to believe that a Higher Power of our understanding could restore us to sanity. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of our Higher Power, to help us to rebuild our lives in a positive and caring way. Made a searching and fearless personal inventory of ourselves.

Dual Recovery Anonymous Admitted to our Higher Power, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our liabilities and our assets. Were entirely ready to have our Higher Power remove all our liabilities. Humbly asked our Higher Power to remove these liabilities and to help us to strengthen our assets for recovery. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

Dual Recovery Anonymous 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 wrong promptly admitted it, while continuing to recognize our progress in dual recovery. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with our Higher Power, praying only for knowledge of our Higher Power's will for us and the power to carry that out. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others who experience dual disorders and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Other areas where the 12-Step Recovery approach has been applied Marijuana addiction / Marijuana Anonymous (MA) Cigarettes, Tobacco, Nicotine addiction / Smokers Anonymous (SA), Nicotine Anonymous (NA) Codependency / Alanon, Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA) (ACA), Codependents Anonymous (CODA), Codependents of Sex Addicts (COSA) Incest, Sexual Abuse / Survivors of Incest Anonymous (SIA), Incest Survivors Anonymous (ISA)

Other areas where the 12-Step Recovery approach has been applied Gambling / Gamblers Anonymous (GA) Shoplifting / Kleptomaniacs Anonymous (KA) Sex addiction / Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA), Sexaholics Anonymous (SA), Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA), Sex Addiction Overcomers (SAO) Food / overeating, obesity, bulimia, anorexia / Overeaters Anonymous (OA), Food Addicts in Recovery (FA)