Boasting over two million members across the globe, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), is one of the largest and most well-known sobriety organizations in the world. Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 by recovering alcoholics Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith and brands itself as an international, community-based fellowship of men and women who have struggled with a drinking problem.
The mission of Alcoholics Anonymous alcoholics is to help to recover alcoholics maintain their sobriety through a 12-step program:
Step 1: Admitting to a powerlessness over alcohol and acknowledging that life has become unmanageable
Step 2: Accepting the belief that a Power greater than the self can help restore sanity
Step 3: Deciding to turn one’s life over to God
Step 4: Compiling a comprehensive moral inventory of one’s life
Step 5: Admitting to God, oneself, and another human being the full extent and nature of one’s moral failings
Step 6: Being ready for God to remove these defects of character
Step 7: Humbly ask God to remove these shortcomings
Step 8: Creating a list of people one has harmed and become willing to make amends with all of them
Step 9: Making direct amends to those people wherever possible, unless it would cause harm to that person or others
Step 10: Continuing to take a personal inventory or oneself and promptly admitting to wrongs
Step 11: Seeking to improve one’s connection to God through prayer and meditation and praying only for knowledge of God’s will and the power to carry it out
Step 12: Following the spiritual awakening brought about by completion of the preceding steps, bringing the message to other alcoholics and practicing these principals in all other affairs
Alcoholics Anonymous is not a substitute for a residential treatment program, but research suggests that patients who attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings following the completion of such a program had better outcomes than those who did not.
The Asana Recovery Center offers a residential treatment program in a supportive, relaxing, and inspiring environment. Call us today at (949) 438-4504 to find out whether our drug and alcohol addiction treatment program may be the right fit for you.
