The First Three Steps in the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous

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Alcoholics Anonymous is a program of recovery that is flawless in concept and beautiful in simplicity. It is a program of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with one another in the day by day process of staying sober. Since it's inception in 1935, millions of people world-wide have achieved and maintained their sobriety through practicing the 12 Steps of recovery. Following the Steps is like learning to walk again, and simplicity doesn't mean easy. The steps are based on sound therapeutic concepts and profound spiritual principles.

The first three Steps are perhaps the most difficult to follow because they challenge an alcoholic's resistance to treatment and his spiritual foundation as well.

Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.

Many active alcoholics realize that alcohol is defeating them, but they tend to minimize the problems that alcohol creates in their lives. Their disease is protected by a massive system of denial that is in play while the disease of alcoholism progresses. Step 1 confronts the denial and requires that an alcoholic not only recognize that he has a problem controlling his use of alcohol, but also that the use of alcohol is creating major life problems for him. Recognition of a problem is the first step to opening the door to therapy and admitting the problem is further confirmation in the process. The first Step suggests that one will continue to have major problems if he doesn't find a way to stop drinking because he is powerless over the controlled use of alcohol.

Step 2: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Most alcoholics are clever and cunning, and when they reach this Step, most don't miss the implied meaning of the capital letter P in Power. It has to mean God, they think, and then they see the word God in the next step. It's too much to bear. First, they're faced with giving up the drug that's been their closest friend, always with them for better or worse, and in their decline, many have become severely agnostic. Still, a ray of hope lies in the idea that a power greater than oneself could provide a solution to an alcoholic's dilemma. No one is so self-sufficient to think that they alone are omnipotent. The power greater than oneself could be the Alcoholics Anonymous Group itself or the principles of recovery. This Step provides a deeper look at the problem of alcoholism when it includes the word sanity. If recovery means a return to sanity, then surely active alcoholism involved insanity. Even a treatment-reluctant alcoholic taking a cursory glance at his drinking behavior would have to admit that he was rather insane during many a bout with alcohol. The Step is also the recognition that alcoholism can be treated, and a lead-in to the necessity of making a commitment to recovery.

Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

If the first two Steps haven't alienated the agnostic struggling with the total futility of continuing to drink alcohol, then the word God appears in Step 3. The alcoholic is at a crossroad. He immediately scoffs at the idea that Alcoholics Anonymous might be a religious program. His saving grace is that the phrase "as we understood him" follows the word God. Maybe I can handle "God as I understand him," he speculates. Members of Alcoholics Anonymous assure the initiate that he needn't be overwhelmed with the idea, that many among them were and are agnostics, and that Alcoholics Anonymous is a spiritual, not a religious program. A clever sponsor might add that the alcoholic has been involved with "spirits" for quite a long time and adding another to the mix couldn't hurt. The essence of the Step is that one will begin his journey into recovery only after having made a commitment to do so.

Part of the beauty and genius of Alcoholics Anonymous lies in the idea that a recovering alcoholic stays sober one day at a time. The commitment to recovery is for one day, a 24 hour contract with a higher power not to drink. Our new member is almost certain that he can make it through this day without taking a drink.

In line with the traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, I have to make it clear that this article is solely my opinion of the program, the Steps, how it works and so forth. It is based on my own experience, strength and hope with Alcoholics Anonymous in my continual day by day program of recovery.