Program "12 steps of anonymous alcoholics": features, characteristics, principles, effectiveness
Is there a salvation from alcoholism? Of course, yes, but this way often seems too complicated. To defeat an addiction is to open the way to a true self, stop lying to oneself and compensate for problems with alcoholic forgetting. The task is not simple, but quite feasible. On the other hand, the dependent person has two ways: to descend lower and lower, or to find the strength and break the vicious circle by looking at the face of life and starting your journey again. Very good for these purposes is the "12 Steps of Anonymous Alcoholics" system.
History of anonymous alcoholics
This system did not appear today. Since ancient times, people have sought to find in society those who suffer from the same illness. Together, it is easier to bear all the hardships of treatment, and to be aware of yourself as a part of the mini-society is also much easier than being lonely and abandoned. If we talk about the program "12 steps of anonymous alcoholics", it has been working for 63 years and for this time has been recognized as one of the most effective systems to combat addiction, a trend that can be seen not only in Russia but throughout the world.
Basics of the
program Not only the specialists of the narcological centers, but also the people who once suffered dependence, confirm that the program "12 Steps of Anonymous Alcoholics" is the most effective in combating harmful habits. Counting the number of people who have passed through these groups is difficult, since the presence in them is anonymous. However, the main value is that a person does not just go through the course of lifting physical dependence, but lives a deep personal psychotherapy, during which his view of the world must radically change. This is what gives an opportunity to acquire a completely new quality of life. It is very important to understand and, most importantly, to accept.
Theoretical platform
Like all other programs for dependence treatment, "12 steps of anonymous alcoholics" has a certain base. This is a harmonious theory, which is based on a complex, biopsychosocio-spiritual model of the disease. All these approaches are extremely important, and each of them carries its own load. Not having sobered the person, it is impossible to go further, only then psychologists enter the struggle for a healthy lifestyle. They can find exactly those stress points, those painful moments, which are the triggers leading to dependence. Gestalt therapy is the basic tool for such work. It is based on its principles, share their feelings and feelings of anonymous alcoholics. The "12 Steps" program includes core values, love and good, as well as faith. It was these strongholds that helped people survive in any life situations long before the first "AA" group was organized. They did not invent anything new, but simply based on what helps people to stay and stay sober.
Faith and religion: Are these concepts the same?
Actually, no, perhaps, that is why there is no disagreement between people around the world, different views and creeds. All of them are anonymous alcoholics."12 steps" is a book that reveals all the subtleties of this approach. The understanding of spirituality is much wider than in every particular religion. That is why it is easily perceived by Catholics, Muslims, and atheists. Despite the fact that it is called spiritually oriented, it does not carry any specific religious content. If this were the case, the program would not be of universal significance. That is, God in the program of "12 steps" is a certain higher power, which in the understanding of each person will be his own. This is the source of resources to which the patient refers. And as he calls it, Jesus, the Buddha, the spirit of the ancestors or the collective consciousness, it is not the essence, the main thing is for a person to feel support in him.
Freedom to choose
This is the main thing, what distinguishes the program "Anonymous alcoholics, 12 steps".The patients' testimonies indicate that they decided to join the ranks of the members of this organization precisely because they were not forced to do anything. They are free to come to meetings or not to do so. The program is really universal, it leaves behind each final choice. Simply put in place of the words "alcohol" and "drug" the name of your problem - and get a ready solution.
Patient Active Position
This is absolutely necessary condition. Only by letting each of her steps through each other deeply, one can achieve a good result. Any problem can be solved through such activities, which is why a group of anonymous alcoholics "12 steps" is the best assistant for each of you. It is a clear and well-structured model describing a program of actions that involve activity both inside and outside themselves. That is, the work is done both inside of itself and in society. It very well helps to reorient a person, to get away from fruitless wisecracking. It is necessary not only to think, but also to begin to do. The theory is very useful, but you will never learn to swim, reading a book on swimming technique by brace. It is also impossible to help yourself, just by studying the contents of the "12 steps".
Short algorithm, or What you have to do
In fact, everything is intuitively simple and understandable, it is through this that the program "12 steps of anonymous alcoholics" becomes universal. Reviews say that even a person without a secondary education can quickly navigate and start working on themselves no less successfully than, for example, a psychologist with a higher education. You can view the program as an operating algorithm that helps to correct the personality and change its quality.
The first and probably the most difficult is to recognize the problem. This is a huge and most difficult step. Not for one day, but for all I have to admit my impotence before alcoholism. This step causes resistance in many newcomers, and only when time passes, they begin to understand its value.
The output is searched for later. This is the second step, which is to come to the conviction that only a stronger power can return sanity to you.
The third step is again a test, decision making. And it is realized by a simple and complex thesis: I am entrusting my life to God as I understand it. And at this stage prayers are very helpful. In the morning the patient asks for God's strength to remain sober, and in the evening he thanks for the given day. This is simultaneously a recognition of the presence of a higher power, greater and mightier than you, and the realization that you care about it.
Next practical lessons begin, this is self-analysis. The fourth step is to evaluate your life from a moral point of view. Group classes help the alcoholic, who sees in himself only the bad, to find and good traits in his personality. This is how the soul is restored, as if a man returned to his abandoned house and gradually began to make major repairs.
The fifth step is confession, that is acknowledgment of the true nature of their delusions before God and people. This is purification. It is necessary to part with the past. Working out their own shortcomings and establishing healthy social ties.
The sixth step is preparing yourself to get rid of all the shortcomings. This is the way of one's own growing up, the recognition that the whole way of alcoholism is to compensate for their low self-esteem. The patient in the group understands that you just need to love yourself and that he does not owe anything to anyone. In this case, every patient must admit that he has acted so far, like an impulsive child.
The seventh step is humility. The patient asks for a higher power to correct his flaws. It is necessary to learn to humbly tell about the most difficult and unpleasant moments of your life to other people. This is another brick that is not easy to lay.
The eighth step - now the patient is ready to return to the society, to his old connections, which are important for him. At the same time, the task again is difficult - to make a list of people to whom you have done evil. At this stage, the group members are filled with the desire to make amends.
The ninth step is the continuation of the work on returning to the familiar society. Alcoholics personally reimburses damage to all those people whose list was made in the previous step.
At the tenth step, the group members continue to introspect and immediately admit their mistakes, if they are allowed.
The eleventh step is to get closer to God through prayer and meditation.
Finally, the final step, which can last indefinitely, is the transfer of experience, help to other alcoholics.
Work with drug addicts in St. Petersburg
This organization has been operating for many years, the first center was established 14 years ago. Today there are branches in all major cities of Russia. As the main methodology, the program "12 steps of anonymous alcoholics" is used. In St. Petersburg, many people know this organization and trust the authority of its experts, as the results are really stunning. In this case, the meetings of the alcoholics themselves are only part of a large work.
Specialists of the centers take into account the individual characteristics of each client, and in addition, they carry out one more important mission, help relatives to cope with codependence. For the patients of the center and their relatives, various activities, family education, legal lectures, lectures on medical hygiene are held. The specialists of the center give a full guarantee of getting rid of all kinds of dependence when you follow all the recommendations given by specialists.
What happens in the class?
The Society of Anonymous Alcoholics "12 Steps" is a kind of commune that is united by one single goal - to stop degrading and destroying oneself and begin a normal life. It is very important that not only doctors, professors and psychologists attend lectures with sometimes incomprehensible lectures, but the same people as the newly converted alcoholic. Very often you can hear the phrase that only those who have experienced cravings for alcohol or drugs can understand the dependent person. Here, in the group, it happens. All people with the same history gather here. The reasons for all are different, the fall is always the same. Nobody will scold or try to remake, everything is completely voluntary. It is very remarkable that there are no leaders and organizers, founders. Each lesson can be held by different people.
This makes the system even more flexible. Yes, there are those who want to leave on the first lesson. But this decision of everyone, forced hospitalization and treatment will not work either, if a person does not ask for a goal to change his life. Surprisingly, in the classroom everyone, in fact, repeats the story of the previous and next speaker. It is very valuable that people who are already in sobriety, for several years admit: "I'm an alcoholic."This helps beginners to remove the barrier and recognize their problem. From here, further treatment begins to unfold.
Summing up
The "12 steps" program is one of the best methods for the rehabilitation of dependent people. There are activists who gather a group and go far beyond the city, to a farm or just to the mountains where one can live in tents. Fresh air, physical labor and separation from the former environment, together with ordinary meetings, give good results. It remains only the task of returning to the usual rhythm to avoid the temptation to return to old habits.