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Written by Marcel Gemme C.C.D.C

Twelve Steps Model of Treatment

Drug Rehab Services is a no cost referral agency in Canada for drug and alcohol dependency. We have helped thousands of persons getting the proper help by informing them on the different methods of twelve steps rehabilitation programs such as:

• AA meetings
• NA meetings
• Twelve steps out-patient programs
• Residential treatment using the twelve steps method

Our goal is to provide you with the best advice possible for drug rehab clinics so you or a loved one get a drug free life. This page informs you on the different twelve steps therapy.

Twelve Steps Method

Twelve-Step treatment is typically used in recovery treatment from dependency or dysfunctional behaviors. The 12-Step program started with Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) in the 1930s. The twelve-step approach became widely used not only for alcohol addiction, but also for drug dependency, and different other addictive or dysfunctional behaviors.

There are more than 200 self-help organizations that are often known as fellowships with a worldwide membership of millions, which now employ twelve-step principles for recovery. Also there are sub groups such as Al-Anon and Nar-Anon, which helps friends and family members of drugs and alcohol addicts. Families and friends are key for a full recovery from addiction to either drugs or alcohol.

Here are the original code of the steps

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.

Some treatment that uses the twelve-steps will modify some words of the code for religious purposes.

The twelve-step tradition uses sponsors who are individuals experienced with the twelve-steps tradition. Their goal is to help beginners or less experienced people to get through the steps. They are not counselors, professionals, or qualified people, but just an addict willing to share his experience.

The Success Rate of The Twelve Steps Programs

The effectiveness of the twelve-steps programs for any type of addiction is not determined in any studies that we researched. First, because the attendees are anonymous so there are no ways to keep a good follow up on whether they stayed sober or they relapsed. You also have two types of people who want to stop drinking, the person who decides to stop, and the person who is forced to stop by the justice system.

A study made internally by AA confirmed that 31% of the attendees would not be there after the first month, and after 90 days over 50% will not be there anymore. That study does not say that the other 45% stayed sober during that period. So there is no way of knowing the real effectiveness of this type of treatment, but we can assume that it can be between 10-25%.

List of the different twelve steps affiliated groups