It also contains stories written by the co-founders and stories from a wide range of members who have found recovery https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/is-it-safe-to-drink-alcohol-during-pregnancy/ in A.A. A.A.’s Twelve Steps are a set of spiritual principles. When practiced as a way of life, they can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to recover from alcoholism. Embarking on a journey to sobriety can often make you lose sight of how far you’ve come.

Big Book ASL – The Doctor’s Opinion

Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.9.

• In the interest of brevity and clarity, many studies with positive findings for AA, and several small 12-step facilitation studies with mixed results among subgroups, have been excluded.
• Others attend due to pressure from a loved one or because they are required by the court, such as after being arrested for drunk driving.
• Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
• AA meetings are typically free, though some groups may pass around a voluntary collection for expenses.

Join others on the road to recovery

The study sample(s) and citation(s) are summarized at the bottom of each figure. The 12 Steps of AA are foundational in guiding individuals through the journey of recovery. They offer astructured pathway to not only achieving sobriety but also maintaining it in the long term.

The AA program

The goal was not to provide an exhaustive review of the evidence, but rather to present representative studies that address AA effectiveness according to six accepted criterion for establishing scientific causation. This framework may be especially appropriate for considering AA effectiveness, because it acknowledges the value and limitations of experimental evidence in the context of other criterion for determining treatment effectiveness. There are other concerns with the Brandsma trial 25 which call its experimental results into question. The control condition allowed for participation in actual AA meetings, while those in the AA condition attended a weekly AA-like meeting administered by the study (that was not an actual AA meeting). The meetings may not have been open to other AA members in the community, and not been listed in the AA meeting directory, which would mean that a potentially important therapeutic ingredient of AA–the experience of longer-term members–would not have been present in the AA condition.

The authors also reported that these programs appear to be as effective as other alcohol treatment methods. Is an enduring program of recovery based on one alcoholic sharing their experience, strength and hope with another. Has been helping alcoholics recover for more than 80 years. A.A.’s program of recovery is built on the simple foundation of one alcoholic sharing with another. If your drinking is out of control, A.A. Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.

• Let it be a source of motivation and a testament to yourenduring commitment to recovery.
• Meetings aren’t based on a specific religion, they do include spiritual aspects.
• Program for recovery from alcoholism.
• There are no age or education requirements to participate.
• Published in 1939, the AA Big Book contains 11 chapters that include personal stories and spiritual insights.
• History and current activities; sharing from groups, service committees, and individual A.A.

In the interest of brevity and clarity, many studies with positive findings for AA, and several small 12-step facilitation studies with mixed results among subgroups, have been excluded. The objective was not to provide still another exhaustive literature review on AA effectiveness, but instead to present representative studies of AA effectiveness according to the criterion for establishing causation. The third trial randomized VA outpatients to an intensive 12-step referral condition or to standard AA referral 24, finding significantly higher rates of total abstinence (from alcohol and drugs) at both the 6- and 12-month follow-ups for the intensive referral condition (Figure 4c). Higher AA/NA involvement in the alcoholics anonymous intensive referral condition fully mediated the condition effect on abstinence, but AA participation predicted abstinence regardless of condition. Alcoholics Anonymous, also known as the “Big Book,” presents the A.A. Program for recovery from alcoholism.