You may have seen the inside of hospital rooms or jail cells. Regardless of how you got to this point, Step 1 of AA is merely realizing that your alcohol abuse disorder was interfering negatively with your life, and you need to change. Couples therapy and family counseling is often a part of alcohol treatment since drinking likely impacts your relationships with those in your life. The therapist would help you, and your family members better communicate with each other and strengthen your relationships.
How to Know if My Life is Unmanageable
One skip becomes two, which becomes five, and before you know it you’ve gone months without receiving the support you need for your recovery. You might have this thought if you come from a family background that was rigid, with strict rules and no tolerance for mistakes. It is linked to a shame-based identity or view of self as fundamentally flawed or bad at the core. Physical punishment, deprivation, social withdrawal, or any other way of punishing yourself increases feelings of despair and hopelessness.
Tips for Starting and Working Step 1 of AA
- Many who struggle with alcoholism have tried to control or moderate their drinking, only to find themselves repeatedly falling into the same destructive patterns.
- Members of Alcoholics Anonymous or Al-Anon Family Groups present some great insight into the healing principles of the 12 steps.
- Powerlessness means that you are not confused in any way that for you, alcohol is poison.
- Other 12-step programs include Al-Anon, Gamblers Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Sexaholics Anonymous, and others.
- When you admit that you are powerless to addiction, you are empowered to reach out for support.
You may continue to make things work and, therefore, be part of the sickness. Only after admitting you are powerless can you begin to make changes in yourself. From step one, you can continue to the rest of the 12 steps and 12 traditions.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
This step is not saying you are powerless over your actions, decisions, or relationships with others; only over your addiction to alcohol or drugs. It is not an excuse to continue in a destructive cycle because there’s nothing you can do about it. The accountability and encouragement in meetings and therapy break the power of secrecy where addiction thrives. It helps foster accountability and is a profound place of support. What happens in a group of people admitting powerlessness over addiction is a power in itself.
(Even If I’m Sober)
They don’t talk about how that connects to drug addiction, but one can instantly see the relationship without a proper definition. I make up excuses on why I don’t need to go examples of powerlessness over alcohol to meetings this week. To help me see things even more clearly, page 11 of the new Step Into Action book states some of the things that show how unmanageable my life is.
Recovery Advocacy
These consequences can be physical, emotional and psychological in nature, and can also include economic and legal consequences as well. How does AA Step 1 help you continue with the remaining steps? When you’re able to accept the fatal progression of your alcohol use disorder, you can’t continue living in denial. You must first adopt attitudes and actions of being honest and sacrificing your time and energy to help yourself and other sufferers. You may have noticed your life in chaos—maybe you’ve lost your home, your job, your family, your possessions, or your self-respect.
What are the Benefits of Powerlessness in AA?
- Ultimately, the important thing is that you are working toward self-improvement and recovery.
- While on your quest for recovery, regaining power is one of the most important and hardest steps.
- But the terminal stages of addiction will strip everything away, and an addicted person who refuses to recover will often be left with nothing.
- Because he is a member of a support group that stresses the importance of anonymity at the public level, he does not use his photograph or his real name on this website.
How Does Step 1 Align With the Disease Model of Addiction?
