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Where can I find a meeting in my area?

We have links to meeting registries for either a face-to-face meeting or an online meeting.

How do I get started with a 12 Step program?

See our Newcomer's Guide for working the 12 steps.

Where are the 12 Step worksheets?

The 12 Step worksheets can be found with other tools for recovery in the Tools area under the Worksheets section.

How do I know if I need a 12 step program?

First of all, it is good to be as honest as you can with yourself. Then read some comments or listen to some audio about step 1 from different sources to see if you can identify with any of these comments.

What 12 step program is right for me?

12 Step programs have been created for a very wide gamut of addictive and dysfunctional behaviors. To determine which one is right for you, you can try an honest self-assessment, or just begin going to some meetings to see which one seems to fit. However, accessibility of face-to-face meetings may be limited for some types of addiction in many areas. So sometimes you have a choice between going to a face-to-face meeting where the addiction may not match yours exactly, or going online to see if you can find a better match for your type and level of addiction and use online materials and online meetings, or a combination of both.

For face-to-face meetings, there are several websites with meeting registries. There are also websites for online meetings and you can use our directory of recovery websites for more materials. The Recovery Groups area may be useful, especially those sites set up for Social Networking for Recovery.

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Recommended

The 12 Steps PDF Print E-mail

Please click on a link for a step to see how that step has worked for other people.

  • Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable
  • Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
  • Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God
  • Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
  • Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
  • Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
  • Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings
  • Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all
  • Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others
  • Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it
  • Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out
  • Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs

This version of the 12 steps is an adaptation from the original 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and is intended for general use with any addictive or dysfunctional behavior. We have also compiled a list of different versions of the 12 Steps.

The following are some audio clips from Dr. Bob, one of the co-founders of A.A., concerning the A.A. experience.

These are audio clips from the excellent website of the Big Book Step Study.

 
We are not affiliated with any official twelve step group or organization, general services offices, board of directors, or any similar organization. Our opinions are strictly our own. Some sites that we link to or sites in the Google ads represent commercial enterprises. If you visit them, please be careful to use your own discretion and good judgment. This 12step.org site is solely for informational purposes, and we assume no liability for any claims or information contained in any of the sites that are linked from or to this site.