The Recovery Model

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) originated the idea for the 12-Step model in 1938, when founder Bill
Wilson wrote out the ideas that had been developing through his experience with and vision of
alcoholism. He wrote about the positive effects experienced when people struggling with alcoholism
shared their stories with one another.

The steps and their principles are:

1. Honesty: After many years of denial, recovery can begin with one simple admission of
being powerless over alcohol or any other drug a person is addicted to. Their friends and
family may also use this step to admit their loved one has an addiction.
2. Faith: Before a higher power can begin to operate, you must first believe that it can.
Someone with an addiction accepts that there is a higher power to help them heal.
3. Surrender: You can change your self-destructive decisions by recognizing that you alone
cannot recover; with help from your higher power, you can.
4. Soul searching: The person in recovery must identify their problems and get a clear picture
of how their behavior affected themselves and others around them.
5. Integrity: Step 5 provides a great opportunity for growth. The person in recovery must
admit their wrongs in front of their higher power and another person.
6. Acceptance: The key to Step 6 is acceptance—accepting character defects exactly as they
are and becoming entirely willing to let them go.
7. Humility: The spiritual focus of Step 7 is humility, or asking a higher power to do
something that cannot be done by self-will or mere determination.
8. Willingness: This step involves making a list of those you harmed before coming into
recovery.
9. Forgiveness: Making amends may seem challenging, but for those serious about recovery,
it can be a great way to start healing your relationships.
10. Maintenance: Nobody likes to admit to being wrong. But it is a necessary step in order to
maintain spiritual progress in recovery.
11. Making contact: The purpose of Step 11 is to discover the plan your higher power has for
your life.
12. Service: The person in recovery must carry the message to others and put the principles of
the program into practice in every area of their life.

Ref:
Donovan DM, Ingalsbe MH, Benbow J, Daley DC. 12-step interventions and mutual support programs
for substance use disorders: an overview. Social Work in Public Health. 2013;28(3-4):313-332.
doi:10.1080/19371918.2013.774663

The basic premise of the 12-Step model is that people can help one another achieve and maintain
abstinence from the substances or behaviors to which they are addicted. They can do this through
meetings in which they share their experiences with one another and support each other in the ongoing
effort of maintaining abstinence. In research, as seen in a recent article from the journal Addiction
Research and Theory, abstinence practices (as supported by 12-Step programs) can account for high
levels of what experts call flourishing, which is positive mental health and can contribute to longer-term
recovery. In the study, those who maintained abstinence were more likely to flourish in the long-term,
with 40.7 percent flourishing after three months (as compared to 9.3 percent languishing) and nearly 40
percent flourishing after 12 months (compared to 12.4 percent languishing).

Based on this study, those who abstain altogether from substances – as advised in the 12-Step model –
have better mental health outcomes than those who don’t abstain. The 12-Step model gives people a
framework from which to surrender their addiction, process their experience, and move forward into new
patterns. As described in an article on Psych Central called Recovery Using the 12 Steps, following the
model assists an individual by helping build the following mental and emotional transformative practices
and tools:

1. Admitting powerlessness over the addiction

2. Believing that a higher power (in whatever form) can help
3. Deciding to turn control over to the higher power
4. Taking a personal inventory
5. Admitting to the higher power, oneself, and another person the wrongs done
6. Being ready to have the higher power correct any shortcomings in one’s character
7. Asking the higher power to remove those shortcomings
8. Making a list of wrongs done to others and being willing to make amends for those wrongs
9. Contacting those who have been hurt, unless doing so would harm the person
10. Continuing to take personal inventory and admitting when one is wrong
11. Seeking enlightenment and connection with the higher power via prayer and meditation
12. Carrying the message of the 12 Steps to others in need

Advantages:

The ability to recognize and admit that one is experiencing an addiction problem
1. A surrender to the fact that the addiction exists and a decision to seek control through an outer
guide
2. Self-observation and awareness of the behaviors that were part of and arose from the addiction, as
well as those that help promote self-restraint
3. A chance to practice that restraint and build self-esteem in one’s positive capabilities
4. Achievement of self-acceptance and the ability to change behaviors
5. Compassion, both for those who have been affected by the addiction and for others who similarly
struggle with addiction
6. Tools that make the process a continual practice throughout the individual’s life
7. By providing these experiences and tools, the 12-Step model can be a method for change in many
types of behavior. As a result, it can help individuals who wish to overcome addiction to find a
path to recovery.