Why the 12 Steps Don't Work

Why 12 Step Won’t Work

By Ned Wicker

One of the most common complaints about the 12 Step recovery process is simply that it doesn’t work, or that the results of the process have diminished over the years from an over 50% success rate claimed in the early years, to a minuscule 3-10% in recent years.

The 12 Step program, as rolled out by Alcoholics Anonymous in the late 1930’s, has always been under attack. Why would this process not work? Combing through dozens of internet articles, I have found at least one commonality among the stories of people who tried 12 Step and did not succeed with it. They all tried hard.

In our society we all tend to honor hard work. “He worked tirelessly through the years to achieve his goals,” says the master of ceremonies at an awards banquet. People love the idea of a self-made man, one who sheer determination and willpower pulled himself “up by his own bootstraps.”

After all, it’s the American way, that pioneering spirit, the rugged individualist, the one who made it to the top. Frank Sinatra sang “I did it MY way.” Not only do we, as a people, want to do it our way, we want instant gratification, and anything that does not fit those two important criteria will not be accepted.

When hard work is not rewarded by positive results it is because the plan didn’t work. There can be no other acceptable explanation. We labor under the premise that we are all basically good and that anything bad that happens is not our fault.

If I am basically good, then all of the tedium of the 12 Step is a waste of time. But what if we changed the paradigm? Instead of insisting that we are all basically good, what if we, for sake of a new perspective, assumed that we were basically bad? Bad, in this case would mean flawed, or not perfect, capable of error, small and large. What if we were the ones who didn’t work?

Actually, the very first step gives us some insight into this change of paradigm. “We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction--that our lives had become unmanageable.” Instead of placing the blame elsewhere, we admit that we have the problem.

Moreover, we admit that we are powerless over the addiction, which is huge because without knowing that we have a problem we cannot fix, there is no solution. I have seen a seemingly endless chain of people going in the front door of the treatment center, getting “something” and then walking out the back door, only to repeat the experience. Why? They don’t have a problem, they’re just in need at the moment.

Perhaps you think this is much ado about nothing. Hardly! Once we not only acknowledge our own pain, brokenness and limitation, but embrace that state of being, we are on the road to recovery because we can, for the very first time, begin to see the solution.

If a person can’t solve the problem by his/her own intellect and effort, then someone or something else is going to have to carry the load. If my own willpower and determination are not the driving force behind my recovery, then I can either choose to ignore the solution, or find another way.

There was once a well-educated man, a scholar, who said he did not believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution. However, because he steadfastly refused to believe in God, or even the possibility of Intelligent Design, regardless of any evidence or even his own spiritual inclination, he chose to embrace that which he did not believe in.

You see, in order to put aside evolutionary theory, the professor would have had to accept the alternative, and that was something he would not do.

As for dealing with a solution to the problem of addiction, there are of course alternatives to the 12 Step process. In the book “The Cure for Alcoholism,” author Roy Eskapa, PhD, sets out five steps of his own.

There are:

1. Understand and think about addiction in an entirely new way;

2. Check the severity of the problem and find out if you need help;

3. Word with your doctor and obtain a prescription for naltrexone;

4. Learn about alcoholic beverage measures and keep a record of your drinking and cravings as you begin your journey through de-addiction. Now you are taking naltrexone before drinking alcohol. You become de-addicted—your craving and drinking levels decline gradually;

5. After three to four months, in some cases up to six months, you will be cured. Now your goal is to stay cured once you have completed the program. As you notice, there is a medical intervention to the problem.

Medical interventions are not recovery, they are treatment. 12 Step is not treatment, it is recovery. There is an important distinction.

12 Step deals with the whole person and, if one allows the process to move forward at its deepest levels, there is a transformation, not only in terms of health and vitality, but in terms of a renewed spirit as well.

If an alternative solution is effective, so be it and believe me, I will celebrate any cure or any recovery. However, the root of the problem is still sitting there—human nature. What about the damage that addictions cause to families, careers and social standing?

From my view of the world, I see so many alcoholics looking for a solution to their problem that will allow them to keep drinking. How can I enjoy alcohol and not get sick? If you can, great, but the problem is deep within us, it’s not just the alcohol.

Step two implies process when it states, “Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” That goes beyond a medical intervention, or merely cutting back on that which has caused us so much pain and suffering.

And the third step states, “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood him.” Like Step 2, this implies a partnership.

Eskapa talks of a partnership with your physician, but the 12 Step process is about so many partnerships, and the repairing broken relationships and your place in the community. To me, the 12 Step is far more difficult, but the reward is far greater.

Regardless of the solution, if a person can stop drinking, or learn to drink responsibly, it is foolishness to pick away at the approach. Having said that, I remain a staunch advocate of the 12 Step, in its original form, as it is a gateway to self-discovery and spiritual renewal.

Regardless of one’s religious orientation, or lack of religious orientation, the 12 Step, if approached with honesty, openness and willingness, touches not only the body and the mind, but the spirit of the journeying addict.

For more Why 12 Step go to books

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This site contains five MAIN pages that EVERYONE should read:

ABOUT…

SYMPTOMS…

CAUSES…

TREATMENT…

RECOVERY…

Read these five pages and learn what you need to know to spot Alcoholic in:

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The rest of the pages are there for your reference to explain important topics in more detail.

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