The 12-Step Program

The 12-step program is a set of guidelines to help people recover from addiction. It was created by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and is now used by many other groups. The program is based on spiritual and psychological principles and involves working with a sponsor for support. While the 12-step program is often associated with spirituality and religious beliefs, it can be adapted to fit the beliefs and needs of individual participants. 

One of the key adaptations made to the 12 steps is in the way the concept of a higher power is defined. While the original 12 steps refer to God as a higher power, participants are free to define their higher power in any way that works for them, whether it be a traditional deity, the group as a whole, nature, or any other entity that provides a sense of support and guidance.

Here are the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. 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.
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.