What is the Most Important Step in Alcoholics Anonymous?

Asking which step of Alcoholics Anonymous is the most important is kind of like asking what part of a car is more important – the tires or the steering wheel? For an individual to truly reap the benefits of any 12 step program, he or she must work through each step honestly and thoroughly. Every step is vital in its way.

Alcoholics Anonymous was first developed in 1939 as a means of helping men and women who had been suffering at the hands of severe alcoholism quit once and for all. The program is based on numerous principles, ranging from fellowship and spirituality to faith and courage. Since it was first developed all of those years ago, AA has been helping men and women of all ages and walks of life from every corner of the world get and stay sober. AA has saved innumerable lives, and its clinical worth is very rarely disputed.

At Recreate Life Counseling, we put a very strong emphasis on 12 step immersion. Our program of addiction recovery focuses on each of the 12 principles of AA, and we require each one of our clients to participate in daily 12 step meetings. We encourage our clients to find a sponsor while they are in treatment and begin working through the 12 steps. We teach our clients about the importance of each step, and how the principle behind each step will end up playing a vital role in their lives.

What is the Most Important Step in Alcoholics Anonymous?

Why The Twelve Steps Are Important 

  1. Step one teaches powerlessness and unmanageability. We learn that we can no longer control our drinking or drug use and that professional help is necessary.
  2. Step two is an introduction to a higher power and the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
  3. During step three, those who are new to sobriety will begin to explore what a higher power looks like to them.
  4. The fourth step concerns moral inventory. We take a searching, fearless and honest look back at all of the people we have wronged.
  5. In step five we learn about honesty by sitting down with our sponsor and reading our list of resentments aloud.
  6. The sixth step concerns willingness. We acknowledge our defects of character and become willing to have them removed.
  7. We communicate with our higher power in the seventh step, asking him to remove the shortcomings we have just acknowledged.
  8. The eighth step is where we list the amends we need to make to the people we have wronged.
  9. During the ninth step, we make these amends. We learn about self-forgiveness and forgiveness of others.
  10. The tenth step focuses on continuing to take personal inventory and keeping ourselves accountable for our actions.
  11. The eleventh step focuses on prayer and meditation and helps us further bolster a connection with a higher power.
  12. The twelfth and final step teaches us about selflessness and sharing what we have learned with other alcoholics who need our help.

Recreate Life Counseling and 12 Step Immersion

We have seen the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous work wonders for our clients many of our current staff members are program members themselves, with years and years of sobriety under their belts. There is no doubt in our minds that AA is a major and essential part of every effective addiction recovery program. To learn more about our comprehensive and 12 step-oriented treatment program, please feel free to give us a call at any time.