The 12 steps treatment program of Alcoholics Anonymous has become widely regarded as a yardstick for recovery from alcoholism, whether it be practised within the organisation of Alcoholics Anonymous, or in a rehab or treatment center.
The phrase 12 steps has become widely used, and often misinterpreted in terms of what they really mean.
This is important, because many rehabs and treatment centres often promote themselves as being 12-step based, which can mean a variety of different things.
Equally there are a number of rehabs and treatment centers that specifically promote themselves as being non-12-step based, and this has implications in terms of what they do offer as addiction treatment programs, and to what extent they are clinically-based or proven.
The original 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous can be found in its entirety in the book of the same name, and is widely available anyone to buy, borrow from their local library, or read online for free.
It should always be remembered that the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous should be taken in context of its writing.
This means that it was written along with a number of descriptive chapters as a record of experience, of what the early members of Alcoholics Anonymous found worked for them.
12 STEPS TREATMENT
People are a perfect liberty to use any or all of the 12 step program in anyway that they find helpful or not.
A number of treatment centers and rehabs use a variation of the 12 step program, but do tend to promote it as if they were offering the benefits of the program as practised within Alcoholics Anonymous.
This can be slightly misleading, and can also be seen as taking advantage of people who are quite vulnerable and do not fully appreciate the difference between the two approaches.
In addition, a number of rehabs and treatment centers will be very supportive of 12 step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and will actively encourage or insist there resident clients attend meetings of these organisations.
In this way a number of rehabs will align themselves with a 12 step recovery program.