Twelve-step programs offer addicts the opportunity to use a tried and tested system of recovery and maintenance of sobriety. The value of these programs can’t be overstated which is why drug rehabs include them as a key pillar of their treatment.
But how exactly do rehabs employ the use of 12-step addiction treatment? Let’s have a look!
What is a 12-Step Addiction Treatment?
A 12-step addiction treatment is a program based on 12 steps and 12 traditions that help addicts get sober and maintain their sobriety long after they leave a 12-step drug rehab.
The concept of 12-step programs originated in 1935 when Bill Wilson and Robert Smith came up with the solution after struggling with their own sobriety.
The original 12-step program was Alcoholics Anonymous, although the 12-step format has been repackaged into many other programs to help addicts suffering from other addictions.
Some of the best-known 12-step programs for addiction include –
- Alcoholics Anonymous
- Sex Addicts Anonymous
- Narcotics Anonymous
- Gambling Anonymous
- Eating Disorders Anonymous
Since its inception, 12-step addiction treatment has been responsible for helping millions of people around the world with their substance abuse problems
How Does 12-Step Addiction Treatment Work?
The treatment has several components to it, but at its core, a 12-step addiction treatment consists of a group of non-professional peers who have or are attempting to recover from addiction.
Unlike group therapy, there is no professional leading the group, but rather it’s done by group consciousness.
There is usually literature available such as the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous or the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions book which shares stories about those who have recovered and also offers guidance on how to best make use of the program.
It’s common that newcomers will pair with a sponsor that will help them and guide them through the program. Although sponsorship is a more recent concept within the program.
Meetings tend to last around one hour and while there are different meeting formats, in general, the idea is that those who have recovered share their strength and hope with each other.
Among the steps of the program, the first step is the most crucial. Addicts must accept that addiction is a real condition and be honest with themselves about it.
The remaining steps are a series of transformative actions. The last three steps (10,11,12) are maintenance steps. Following these steps and principles after detox may provide the addict with a daily reprieve.
12-Step Drug Rehab
The effectiveness of 12-step treatment is evident, which is why as many as 74% of substance abuse treatment centers offer it as a service.
These treatment centers understand not only the value of 12-step treatment as a form of achieving sobriety but also as a way of maintaining it.
By joining a 12-step drug rehab, addicts will be offered tools that will allow them to maintain their sobriety long after they leave the premises.
Benefits of a 12-Step Drug Rehab
There are many benefits to joining a 12-step drug rehab.
Among them including:
- A proven roadmap to getting sober and staying sober
- Sponsorship
- Continuous peer support
- Counseling
- Learning from the experience of others
- Realization that the addict is not alone and his or her condition is not unique
- Constant reminders of what it used to be like and what it’s like now
- Helping others
- Positive reinforcement
- Sober friends
- Resolving inner conflicts and getting rid of character defects
- A safe trusting place
- Relapse prevention
- Spirituality
Joining a 12-Step Drug Rehab
Now that you have learned more about 12-step addiction treatment you might want to consider joining one. But choosing a 12-step drug rehab could be daunting.
Fortunately, Outpatient LA can help. We are a drug rehab located in Los Angeles that offers a holistic approach to recovery. That includes the use of 12-step addiction treatment as well as many other tools that will help you stay sober.Contact Outpatient LA today and ask about our 12-step drug rehab today.