By Steve K. I recently became fully aware of certain unconscious motivations that have been directing, to a degree, some of my behaviour. At a conscious level I was trying to help someone early in recovery and still believe that this motive was genuine, but underlying these efforts I was also being driven by powerful […]
By Steve K. “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.” And… “Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.” These two Steps involve willingness, humility and practice. Step Six requires a natural willingness to be free of the character defects discovered in Steps Four and Five. The painful awareness of our […]
By Steve K and John S. Listen to the podcast: This week’s podcast features an interview with Steve K. who discusses his book, The 12 Step Philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous: An Interpretation by Steve K. Inspired by Aristotle’s “Virtue Ethics,” Stoic philosophy and the liberal principles embedded in AA history; Steve interprets the Steps from a […]
By Steve K. My reply to this question is that it can be for some of us in recovery. Specifically, those of us who have experienced high levels of shaming (rejection, neglect, and emotional or physical/sexual abuse) in the developmental years of childhood and adolescence. During my own upbringing, I experienced a lot of anger, […]
By Lisa Martinovic In battling addiction, neuroscience offers a complementary and alternative approach to twelve-step programs. Cutting-edge 21st century neuroscience and a certain Depression era, Christian-based self-help fellowship might make strange bedfellows, but they have one thing in common: when it comes to the treatment of addiction, both rely on the brain’s innate capacity for […]
By Steve K. Members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) quite often state that the Twelve-Step program is “Spiritual, rather than religious”. I think this distinction is based upon one’s definition of the two terms. Some people understand the terms as more or less synonymous, but within AA, they are generally understood to mean different things. The […]
By Galen T. Many of us are familiar with the events that brought AA’s two founders together for the first time. On May 11th of 1935 Bill found himself pacing back and forth in the lobby of the Mayflower Hotel in Akron, OH. At one end of the lobby was a bar and at the […]
By Steve K. In the book Alcoholics Anonymous, it suggests that resentment is the number one manifestation of self/ego. “Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations. Resentment is the “number one” offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else.” p.64. The book goes on to […]
By Steve K. In a spiritual sense it’s often suggested that love is the opposite of fear. When considering the characteristics of these two states of being I can see the truth in this point of view. However, I would suggest that this viewpoint relates to unhealthy or neurotic fear, rather than ‘in the moment’ […]
By Steve K. I’ve never been a fan of suffering during my life. I’m ashamed to say that I have a track record of trying to avoid it as much as possible, and would suggest that this fear based tendency is a key factor in my history of substance, as well as other types of, […]
By Steve K. As an agnostic member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) I have a tendency to question or rationalize so called “spiritual experiences.” However, this year I have experienced three “synchronicities” that I find difficult to relate to in any other way. The most recent being a very powerful experience, which moved me greatly, and relates […]
By Steve K. The literature of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) suggests that alcoholism is an illness of the mind, body and soul; and that in healing spiritually one also heals mentally and bodily as well. Additionally, I would also like to suggest that the alcoholic heals emotionally, and contentiously, morally, as part of the recovery process. […]
By Steve K. In the context of Twelve Step recovery, there is the concept of ‘having had a spiritual awakening as the result of practicing the Steps.’ (1) The American psychologist and philosopher William James referred to it as an educational process. (2) My experience of this process over 25 years in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) […]
By Paul Henry (aka AlcoholicsGuide). Here I cite and use excerpts from an interesting article by Kathy Brous (1) that suggests addiction is the consequence of insecure attachment to our caregivers in early childhood and that as the result addicts often learn to consume substances, or behave in certain “rewarding” ways such as gambling, hypersexual activity etc to […]
By Steve K. “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practise these principles in all our affairs.” Step Twelve – Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The following description of AA’s Step Twelve is based mainly upon my own personal experience of practicing Twelve […]
