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Why 12 step based treatment works.

Treatment and the 12 steps:

To begin the year, I thought we would look at the relationship between treatment and the 12 steps of recovery. The 12 steps have long been considered the most effective way to help a chemical abuser, drugs or alcohol, a sex addict, gambler, shopaholic, exercise addict, you got it I think, face and recover from their addiction of choice. This is not a guess, conjuncture, or implied statistic. This is a fact. While many other ways exist that can be helpful, nothing is on record as being as effective with people who have addictive personalities, than the 12 steps are. This is bore out both by scientific, medical, and practical feedback. While you may find pockets of people representing every know way for sobriety to work, you will not come close to finding one method or modality that helps more people(several million in different anonymous groups world wide. Anonymous groups include but are not limited to, AA, NA, CA, HA, CMA, PA, SLA, SA, MA). There is a reason for this. Over the next year we will explore why that is and why treatment is so important in today's society. I began writing this piece planning on doing a quick intro and then moving into step 1. It became apparent to me that I needed to devote a whole article on why 12 step based treatment centers work so well. Thankfully, some of the steps can be combined into one article so we can start the actual step by step breakdown next month.

So, why does 12 step based treatment work. Simple, look at it like this. Any addiction problem effects the user or abuser on 4 basic levels. Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. This is why addiction of any kind differs from a bad habit. A bad habit, say biting your nails, generally only effects you in a few ways. You bite the nail, so that is physical and you do it when you are nervous which is emotional. Although it is hard to stop a bad habit, any addict would tell you quitting heroin or alcohol use is about a million times harder than quitting your biting habit. When a drug makes a person feel physically different, calms or speeds up their mind, quells their emotions and allows them to feel a higher connection or purpose(hence the term "high" as in getting higher), you are looking at one heck of an enemy if you are trying to convince the person that walking away from this drug is the right thing to do. So, if you have a four pronged problem, you better offer a four pronged solution. Ever try to bail hay with a one or two pronged pitchfork? You better clear your calender for a few months, because you are going to be bailing hay for a while.

A 12 step approach program offers a four pronged solution. By definition, the 12 steps facilitate changes on all four levels of life by themselves. Treatment does a wonderful job of connecting the dots and allowing the person a safe, secure, and wonderful place to heal in all four areas. In a place like River Source, you are given tools like Yoga, gym, the suana, and most importantly(in my humble opinion)constant connection to Naturopathic MDs who can help guide the physical healing. In counseling and life coaching the mental and emotional parts of recovery are discovered and explored and in groups and with sponsors, pastors, families and friends, the spirituality of life and recovery are re-found or in some cases found for the very first time. If the steps are the glue that keeps a life together and thriving, than treatment is the glue gun that helps deliver the message and secures that a person in treatment will have the best shot at getting well. Thanks for reading and check back next month for more on this topic.

**please note that all matter stated here is that of an independent writer and does not represent the River Source trying to re-define the steps, this is simply a look at how treatment uses the 12 steps. In support of that purpose, only a synopsis of each step will be included every month. For a list of the 12 steps and the accurate definitions please contact AA world services or obtain a copy of the book "Alcoholics Anonymous".**

Treatment and the 12 steps

Step One

February 2012

As we discussed here last month (please read the above or Jan 2012 article prior to this one if you can, if not no worries), 12 step recovery based treatment programs are, according to research, the most successful type of treatment programs. We broke this down a bit last month so now we will begin to explore treatment's unique relationship with each of the 12 steps.

The 1st step in a 12-step program relates to the admission of a personal problem and the unmanageability of the life of the person in question. This is referred to in full as powerlessness. And that one term and what it represents makes the difference in millions of lives every day. The acceptance or the denial of one's powerlessness creates success and failures each and every day, both in treatment and in the population at large. Only after a person has admitted their powerlessness will they be willing to admit their unmanageability as well.

What does it mean to be powerless? At first glance, it may seem simple and often it is, but as is the case with most meaningful things in life, if it is you we are talking about, it is not quite so simple. Personal powerlessness is one of the hardest things for a human being to admit to. We just aren't wired to quit or give up, nor admit there is something we can't do. In many cases, this serves us well. But in the matter of drugs and alcohol, it can literally kill us. A person must get to a place within them of admitting they have lost the power to choose, control, manage, or in any way maintain their alcohol and/or drug use. They must if they wish to have any shot and staying clean. But here is why treatment pays such an important role in this process. Anyone who has suffered even the most basic consequences after using may be able to admit this mentally. But only the person who can admit this to themselves mentally, emotionally, and spiritually (whatever that means for the individual) can get to an internal place of knowing they are beaten and have no hope for recovery on their own power. This, as you can imagine, is very hard for an addict/alcoholic to do.

Much care is taken during the treatment process to softly but honestly explain how one can do this. In programs like those at The River Source, a peer element is added, and people get to experience honesty from their peers in a way none of them ever have before. This process is life changing and literally opens people’s eyes for the first time. Work with staff, peers, and sponsors further locks in the honesty process. Once someone has admitted their defeat, healing can begin. After accepting that they are powerless over drugs or alcohol, or whatever addiction they may have, a person can more easily look at the unmanageability of their life and begin to see that many decisions that they made lead them to a place of not having control.

Treatment professionals are able to help clients see that if any area of their life is not going according to plan, then that is what is meant by “unmanageable”. Once someone can see this truth they can combine what they have felt about being powerless with what they have learned about being unmanageable, and they can take steps to understand what must be done. Simply put, what must be done is anything that needs to happen in order to experience recovery. This is a delicate process and one where many people who don't enter treatment miss, which may be why individuals who enter 12-step based treatment centers, have a much higher success rate than people who do not enter treatment.

The 12 steps are like a house in which your spirit can grow and recover. The 1st step is the foundation of that house. Entering 12 step treatment is like hiring the best contractors in the world to build that foundation. Once that foundation is built, freedom from the destruction of drugs and alcohol lie ahead. See you next month!

**please note that all matter stated here is that of an independent writer and does not represent The River Source trying to re-define the steps, this is simply a look at how treatment uses the 12 steps. In support of that purpose, only a synopsis of each step will be included every month. For a list of the 12 steps and the accurate definitions please contact AA world services or obtain a copy of the book "Alcoholics Anonymous".**

Treatment and the 12 steps - Step 2

Step Two

March 2012

As we discussed here the past few months(please read the 2012 articles prior to this one if you can, if not no worries), 12 step recovery based treatment programs are, according to research, the most successful type of treatment programs. We broke this down a bit, so now we will begin to explore treatment's unique relationship with each of the 12 steps. The 2nd step in a 12 step program is the first direct connection to a higher power or a God as you understand him, her, or it. For many people this represents their first real obstacle towards achieving sobriety. For many(not all)people entering recovery, the thought of God or a higher power of any kind is absolutely terrifying and something many people don't believe they can do. The reason for this is simple. When you live a life of using and problem drinking, you take on many of the principles(or lack thereof more like)associated with that life style. Stealing, lying, manipulating, selfish behavior, rage, etc. Not exactly a list of someone who is living a "God centered" life. So even if you had a strong spiritual background growing up, you tend to turn away from that way of living when using or drinking takes over your life. The drink or drug in a very real way, becomes your new higher power.

The last line above may be a bit cryptic, but in reality it is very important. A higher power is loosely defined as something that can do something for us that we cannot do for ourselves. Drugs and alcohol absolutely meet that definition, just not in a positive way. This plays into the equation because an addict or alcoholic who is totally resistant to the concept of a higher power can begin to understand that they have had a higher power all along. They just need to learn or as the step implies, come to believe that a power greater than them can be used in a positive and loving way. Treatment really helps this process by showing a new person in recovery scores of others who are living proof that recovery works. This is the best example of a higher power that any new person in recovery can hope to see. The coming to believe part of the step lets people off the hook by allowing for a process. It does not happen over night and can take some time, but via sponsorship, step groups and counseling, a person can come to believe in a power greater than themselves and allow that power to change the way they are living their life. The second part of the second step(ah yes, as with many of the 12 steps, it is a several part process)deals with that higher power(of your understanding)restoring you to sanity.

As you can imagine, this can create all sorts of discord amongst people trying to digest it for the first time. As to appeal to everyone's sensitivity, we will define insanity with Einstein's definition, which many people now believe to be the actual definition of insanity. Einstein is the guy who famously first stated that insanity was "doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results". If you had to pick one line that sums up the life of an addict, I think that one would do just fine. Addicts are known for doing just what the line implies. What the second step lets us know is that if we are willing to believe and do the work that we learn in treatment, that we can be restored to sanity. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results, then sanity would be doing new things and getting different results which is exactly what someone in recovery needs. The other key piece is basically most religions and spiritual groups believe that God or a higher power speaks through people. Treatment allows a hurting addict or alcoholic to connect with people they can relate to who are doing well and therefore can help them connect with that higher power.

See you next month!

Treatment and the 12 steps - Step 3

Step Three

April 2012

The 3rd step in a 12 step program deals specifically with turning one's will and life over to the care of a God or a higher power of their understanding. With the acceptance and belief of a Higher Power of our own choosing in step 2, it then makes sense that we would be able to follow that step with one that could implement those new beliefs into actual life circumstances. Step 3 represents an addict's or alcoholic's beginning to really take action to live a new life. This is the part in the recovery process where you see people really begin to change. Liars start becoming honest, thieves start giving, and anger gives way to compassion and understanding. Treatment is a great catalyst for this change. A true advantage is gained in treatment when it comes to the 3rd step because of the difficulty in understanding how to live in God's Will and what that really means. In other words, how does a newly sober addict or alcoholic decide whether or not something he or she wants to do is his/her will or if it’s God's? It’s a tough question for anyone to answer, huh? Well, that is exactly why treatment is so important in this process. Learning to practice this recovery principle takes many months and having the advantage of being taught this information in a safe setting is invaluable to one's spiritual growth and recovery process.

As is the case with many things in recovery and even in life, this topic is subject to as many definitions as there are people willing to define it. The exact specifics of what someone learns in treatment are up to that person's treatment team, but in general they will come to understand the following way of
thinking:

God's Will is loosely defined here as "doing the next right thing for the best of all concerned". Sometimes all concerned is you, sometimes it is the 10 other people in the room as well as you. It all depends. We learn to look at will as another way of saying want. In other words, God's Will = What God / Higher Power of your understanding wants - Self Will = what you want. Then we learn that life = outcomes. In saying we turn our will and our life over to the care of a Higher Power, what we are really saying is that we take what we want and the outcomes arriving from that and instead do what our Higher Power would have us do and enjoy the outcome of that. Here is a simple analogy. If an addict (now sober a few months) walks into a gas station and notices the attendant is in the restroom, chances are high the addict may think "hey, I could grab my chips and drink and run out of here without being caught". Let me hop in with an important point here. I heard from a man much smarter than I that a human being's first thought in any situation is what they want to do. I don't know if that is true or not but it makes great sense to me. So, back to my analogy. If the newly sober addict grabs the chips and runs, chances are good he will be caught and face charges. Even if successful in his heist, he will most likely use again as a result of living in a dishonest way. He wanted to steal, he did steal, and now he is using or in jail. If he, instead, remembers the 3rd step and either A) thinks about what his family, or sponsor or others who support him would have him do (a great way to determine what God's Will in any situation is) B) stops and really thinks his choices and potential consequences through (an important skill taught in treatment) or C) calls his sponsor or support system, the chances of him doing the right thing and feeling very good about himself raise ten-fold. This is just one example of everyday situations that addicts find themselves in that they must learn how to respond to. Using an addict's own thinking can be catastrophic. Learning to trust and rely upon a Higher Power combined with an active desire to try and be the best person one can be is the root of the 3rd step and the root of what is done in treatment to teach such an important component. It is imperative that addicts and alcoholics learn that when we do what we want, the results aren't usually very good. When we trust a loving and supportive Higher Power of our choosing, life goes very well and we are on the path to happiness.

See you next month!

**Please note that all matter stated here is that of an independent writer and does not represent The River Source trying to re-define the steps, this is simply a look at how treatment uses the 12 steps. In support of that purpose, only a synopsis of each step will be included every month. For a list of
the 12 steps and the accurate definitions please contact AA world services or obtain a copy of the book "Alcoholics Anonymous".**

Testimonials

" What brought you to the River Source? Not being able to control anything in my life. Why did you choose the River Source? My family friend Chris C. recommended it. What was your experience like at the River Source? I gained a beautiful spiritual experience. I learned about myself. I learned how to deal with emotions that I was not able to feel for so long. My eyes were opened to the true fact that I am powerless over any type of drug or alcohol. What is your life like now? My life is..."

Anonymous - October 2011

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