12 Step Recovery in Pennsylvania

The twelve-step recovery program was created by Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Since 1935, twelve step fellowships have provided a mutual-support, community-based program for recovery that has been helping addicts get and stay sober/clean.

The 12-step model has since been adapted for many different kinds of addiction. There are 12 step programs for most types of addiction, from NA (Narcotics Anonymous) to SLAA (Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous)

As a member of a twelve-step fellowship, you will be supported and guided through the steps by a sponsor. A sponsor is someone in the twelve-step program who has already been the steps and is able to help you through the process.

12 step recovery in Pennsylvania can be accessed by going to meetings or by attending some of the rehab centers listed on Caron reviews.

The 12 steps

The 12 steps are an outline of how you can recover from addictive processes and behaviors and restore serenity to your life. Underneath is a list of the twelve steps with an explanation for each step.

Step one

“We admitted we were powerful over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable

You might have heard experts say that you can’t change before you admit that you have a problem. Step one addresses this issue by working on the denial and self-deception that always accompanies addiction.

Step two

“Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity”

This step offers hope. By working this step, you come to believe that recovery from your addiction is possible.

Step two lets us know that it is possible to gain inspiration, guidance and strength from something which is great than your own will. The choice of what you want to use as a higher power is personal. It must be something that can guide and help you in the right direction.

Step three

“Decided to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.”

The third step is a step of action. The first two were about awareness and contemplation. In the third step, you start to act less on compulsions, and rely more on an intuitive understanding of your higher power’s will for you.

These first three steps are often the steps which you go through when you first enter some of the treatment centers listed in Caron reviews.

Step four

“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves”

In step four you will take an honest look at yourself, your behavior, and the effect that your behavior has had on you and the people around you.

Step five

“Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs”

This is a very therapeutic step. After taking a look at the harm that your addiction has done, the release from sharing your story can be a powerful one. Often the person who you share your story with will share some of their story, and you will find that you are much the same, and are not unique imperfect.

Step six

“Were entirely ready to have God remove all of these defects of character”

Step six means letting go of the behaviors, patterns and attitudes that have been holding you back. Though some of your thinking and behavior is not serving you well, it can be hard to change ingrained ways of coping. This step needs commitment, but it is good to remember than when practicing this step that we look for spiritual progress not spiritual perfection.

Step seven

“Humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings”

A lot of your negative behavior was likely intertwined with active addiction and you have been powerless to change it. You were not responsible for your addiction but you are responsible for your recovery.

Step eight

“Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all”

Step eight is a housecleaning step. In this step you start to clean up the mess that your addiction left around you. In this step you become willing to make amends, and you can work on repairing the damage which you have done in active addiction.

Step nine

“Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others”

Step eight was about contemplation and awareness; step nine is about action. You have looked at what you have done, and now it is time to put things right.

Step ten

“Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it”

At this point you will be good at being honest with yourself. The tenth step is about vigilance and flourishing and vigilance.

Step eleven

“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”

Step twelve

“Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”

If you need help with addiction, 12 step recovery in Pennsylvania has meetings in every major city, and in almost every other city in the world. 12 step recovery is also part of the program at rehab centers on the Caron reviews website.