12 Alcoholics Anonymous Steps You Should Understand

Alcoholism is a very serious addiction, but if you or someone you know is suffering from it, there are steps you can take to help beat that addiction. Alcohol is a drug like any other addictive substance and is not only bad for your health but can damage your relationships and your overall quality of life. 

Getting help is hard, but luckily there are some great programs in place to help. The alcoholics' anonymous steps can help you control your alcoholism and get your life back on track.

Alcoholics Anonymous Steps

If you've wondered what alcoholics anonymous is, it's a 12 step program to help you work through your addiction. It gives you a play-by-play on how to keep coming back and working on your addiction. And the longer you are in and working; you receive chips to note your success and remind you how far you've come.

Step 1

The first step is to admit powerlessness over alcohol and that things have become unmanageable. This can be challenging for someone resistant to even attending alcoholics anonymous and doesn't believe they have a problem.

Step 2

Believing a power greater than yourself is here to help you get back your life. Many alcoholics anonymous groups do contain a religious component, but even if you aren't a believer in God, the program itself can still help and provide support. 

Step 3

Turn your life and will over to God. This step is steeped in allowing yourself to believe things can get better and trusting in the healing process to help you through. 

Step 4 

Take a moral inventory of yourself and your life. Think about what you have done both to yourself and others throughout your life, and perhaps how much of that was also connected to alcohol. 

Step 5 

Admit to yourself, god, and someone else what you have done wrong. Admitting your wrongs, especially to yourself, can help you gain clarity on what has happened in your life and what alcohol has actually created within you.

Step 6

Become ready to remove, and allow God to remove, these defects. Accepting that you have flaws and want to improve and change for the better is a huge step in the process of healing.

Step 7

Ask to have your shortcomings removed. This might seem like an easy out but requires you to continue doing the work of getting better as well. 

Step 8

Make a list of who you've harmed and be willing to right those wrongs. This is holding yourself accountable and facing those bad decisions and actions from before. 

Step 9

Make direct amends when possible. Trying to fix or heal some of the problems you've made is a difficult but good step and can often provide the feeling of a fresh start.

Step 10

Keep checking for wrongs and admit them when they happen. No one is perfect, and neither is alcoholics anonymous. If you slip up or slip back into old habits, admit your mistake. It happens, and you can still get better.

Step 11

Through prayer and meditation, seek power and higher thought. Giving yourself space to achieve some internal peace while seeking it externally is important. If you are still fighting yourself, it is much harder to heal.

Step 12

After making it through these steps, continue to carry them with you and utilize them in your life. The principles learned through the process of completing the steps can help you combat your alcoholism for the rest of your life.

Start Today

Looking for an alcoholics anonymous near me can be scary and intimidating. But beginning the alcoholics' anonymous steps can set you on the road to recovery, both for yourself and for those hurt in your life. Start today and start getting better.