Every day, people across America get sober and stay substance-free with help from a 12-step program. Programs of this type are named for the process they use to help you meet your sobriety goals. While not the same as formal treatment, they’re often invaluable for substance abuse and addiction recovery. After establishing yourself in the program’s first step, you must continue on to the next phase. What is the second step of a 12-step program? Believing in the importance of a force greater than you to help you recover. To learn more about 12-step recovery, contact Promises Right Step at 17135283709 or online.
What Are 12-Step Programs and Why Do They Matter?
Exactly what are 12-step programs? All programs with this title function according to guidelines first established by the group Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). These guidelines lay down a framework for:
- Halting your drug or alcohol use
- Maintaining your sobriety on a daily basis
- Helping others stop their substance use and achieve lasting sobriety
12-step programs don’t rely on addiction specialists to pursue their goals. Instead, participants in these programs help and support each other. This fact explains why 12-step groups belong to the larger category of mutual self-help groups.
Research clearly backs the usefulness of these kinds of groups for drug and alcohol recovery. Well-designed treatment programs often encourage their clients to enroll in one. Your program may also actively prepare you for involvement in a 12-step group.
What Is the Second Step of the 12-Step Program?
The first step of 12-step recovery is acknowledging your loss of control over your drinking or drug use. This acknowledgment reflects a crucial fact about addiction. Namely, once it begins, it has chronic effects that can’t be addressed with short-term remedies.
What is the second step in 12-step recovery? Believing that a power greater than you can help you heal and regain control. In the traditional framework of AA and similar groups, that power is God. However, not everyone who can benefit from 12-step participation uses God as a personal reference point. For this reason, many groups let you define your higher power for yourself.
In practical terms, the specific identification of your higher power is secondary. What matters most is believing in that power as a catalyst for change. It is this belief that helps you develop faith in your ability to meet your recovery goals. In turn, that faith can help you weather the ups and downs of your sobriety efforts.
Progressing Toward the Next Steps in Your Recovery
What do you do next after opening yourself to the healing help of a higher power? The steps that directly follow this phase of your program include:
- Actively turning to that higher power as a source of help
- Honestly assessing the things you’ve said and done while affected by addiction
- Openly admitting the mistakes you’ve made and the harm you’ve caused
- Being open to transformative change that comes from your higher power
Each of these steps builds on the ones that precede it. Together, they continue to guide you as you move forward.
Learn More About 12-Step Recovery at Promises Right Step
What is the second step of the 12-step program? Opening yourself to believe in the force of change that goes beyond you. This force can be identified with a specific religious figure like God. It can also take any other form that you personally identify with.
Want to know more about how you can use the 12 steps to support your success in rehab? Talk to the professionals at Promises Right Step. We’ll be glad to show you how formal treatment and 12-step participation can go hand in hand. Just call us today at 17135283709 or contact us online.
