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12 Steps in Alcoholism Recovery


Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), created the Twelve Steps in alcoholism recovery program as a guide for individuals to stop drinking and stay sober.

Underscoring AA’s philosophy that alcoholism is an illness (a position supported by the American Medical Association) and that alcoholics cannot control their drinking, the Twelve Steps program focuses on accepting what an individual conceives as a higher power as the key to overcoming the disease.




The organization’s steps in alcoholism recovery also focus on each individual’s physical and mental state, as alcoholism adversely impacts all aspects physical, mental and spiritual well being.

Following are the Twelve Steps that comprise AA's program philosophy:

  1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

  2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

  3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

  4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

  5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

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

  10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

Other organizations committed to alcohol education and recovery have developed programs similar to AA's Twelve Steps program. Along with AA, Smart Recovery, SOS and Women for Sobriety (among many others) provide alcoholics with an encouraging, supportive, environment to face their addiction and abstain from drinking

Peer support group participation may follow residential or out-patient treatment and is often used in conjunction with different types of therapy and/or medication.




Related Information

Alcohol Addiction Treatment
 Alcoholics Anonymous Website
 Help and Support Organizations



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