The 12th Step in Addiction Recovery: Giving Back

Alcoholics and drug addicts can be the best resource to help other addicts to overcome their problems. Experience is a great teacher. No one would wish an addiction experience on another person. People who have experienced drug and alcohol addictions are best suited to understand the highs and lows of a substance addiction, the stresses and problems that accompany recovery.An addict who has progressed through the first 11 steps of a 12-step program is likely to have had a spiritual awakening as the result of the steps. That awakening has created a new sense of self. The recovering addict’s new perspective will give him tools that are far more powerful than drugs and alcohol to handle stresses and problems that may have first led to his addictions. These tools can be passed onto others through the service of taking someone else through the 12 steps. Step 12 is not an endpoint in any addiction recovery. Additionally, alcoholics and drug addicts are not considered to be fully-recovered when they have reached step 12. Addicts who have succeeded through the first 11 steps of a 12-step program and who are progressing through step 12 are encouraged to practice the disciplines that their recovery program teaches every day in their newly-recovered lives. An addict who has succeeded into step 12 will often discover that this daily practice has enabled him to turn his problems and experiences into strengths and assets that can help him and everyone else he encounters.Many recovering addicts who have stuck with their 12-step recovery plans have remarked that the 12th step is a breath of fresh air. When they have experienced this palpable sense of relief, they want to share it with other addicts who are not yet fortunate enough to have the same experience. The counselors and therapists at the Last Resort Recovery Center near Austin encourage their recovering alcoholics and drug addicts to follow and practice the principles that are typically found in 12-step programs, including the critical 12th step that asks recovering addicts to give back to others. Please call us at 512-360-3600 for more information about our 12-step recovery programs.