Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable.The following are the original twelve steps as published by Alcoholics Anonymous: The principles of AA have been used to form numerous other fellowships specifically designed for those recovering from various pathologies each emphasizes recovery from the specific malady which brought the sufferer into the fellowship. Consequently, drug addicts who do not suffer from the specifics of alcoholism involved in AA hoping for recovery technically are not welcome in "closed" meetings unless they have a desire to stop drinking alcohol. A singleness of purpose emerged as Tradition Five: "Each group has but one primary purpose-to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers". Īs AA chapters were increasing in number during the 1930s and 1940s, the guiding principles were gradually defined as the Twelve Traditions. The practice of remaining anonymous (using only one's first names) when interacting with the general public was published in the first edition of the AA Big Book. In 1946 they formally established the twelve traditions to help deal with the issues of how various groups could relate and function as membership grew. Robert Holbrook Smith, known to AA members as "Bill W." and "Dr. Co-Dependents Anonymous ( CoDA) addresses compulsions related to relationships, referred to as codependency.įurther information: History of Alcoholics AnonymousĪlcoholics Anonymous (AA), the first twelve-step fellowship, was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA or ACOA) addresses the effects of growing up in an alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional family. Behavioral issues such as compulsion for or addiction to gambling, crime, food, sex, hoarding, getting into debt and work are addressed in fellowships such as Gamblers Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Sexaholics Anonymous and Debtors Anonymous.Īuxiliary groups such as Al-Anon and Nar-Anon, for friends and family members of alcoholics and addicts, respectively, are part of a response to treating addiction as a disease that is enabled by family systems. ĭemographic preferences related to the addicts' drug of choice has led to the creation of Cocaine Anonymous, Crystal Meth Anonymous and Marijuana Anonymous. Narcotics Anonymous was formed by addicts who did not relate to the specifics of alcohol dependency. Over 200 mutual aid organizations-often known as fellowships-with a worldwide membership of millions have adopted and adapted AA’s 12 Steps and 12 Traditions for recovery. Twelve-step methods have been adapted to address a wide range of alcoholism, substance abuse, and dependency problems.
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