It is sometimes surprising to people that the word alcohol only appears once in the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, given that this program is regarded as the main recovery tool in the field of alcoholism and addiction work.
It is something of a paradox, that it is a realisation of powerlessness and alcohol triggers a willingness to move in a different direction internally, and create a world that is based on a reality of real-life, rather than a fantasy world that an active alcoholic can live and feel safe in.
Any reading of the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous will give people an understanding of the process, even if the enormity of what it means in reality can only really be understood by someone having an experience of the order that working through the 12 steps tends to produce.
An admission of being powerless over alcohol should not be taken as an admission that is not true.
ALCOHOL RECOVERY
The wording of step one in the 12 step program is designed to be read as a statement of experience, not as a belief system or as a guide, or as advice to other people as to what they should or should not do.
The early members of Alcoholics Anonymous were very clear that they felt they had a solution that works for them, and they were very happy to share that solution we are the people who felt that they had a similar problem.
The early members of AA also very clear that they would not force and did not want to force this solution on anyone either did not want it, or who felt they could solve their alcohol problem in their own way, or who could drink, even quite heavily, and yet somehow manage it themselves or keep it under control themselves.
It is probably inevitable that people have lost sight of this principle that th this 12-step program is a statement of experience, and should be regarded as a source of freedom, rather than a source of either trapping people or forcing people into believing things that are not true.