The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous form the foundation of one of the most successful recovery programs in history. Since their publication in 1939 in the Big Book, millions of people have used these steps to achieve lasting sobriety.

The Twelve Steps

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

Understanding the Steps

The steps are designed to be worked in order with the guidance of a sponsor — an experienced AA member who has worked the steps themselves. Steps 1-3 focus on surrender and acceptance. Steps 4-9 address self-examination and making amends. Steps 10-12 focus on continued growth and helping others.

The concept of a “Higher Power” is intentionally broad. AA is not affiliated with any religion, and members define their Higher Power in whatever way is meaningful to them — God, the group itself, nature, or any concept greater than themselves.

Find an AA Step Study meeting near you to begin working through the Twelve Steps with others in recovery.

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