Why Doing a Moral Inventory is Key to Finding Balance and Hope for People with Addiction

Putting faith and control into the hands of someone else is difficult under any circumstances. When asking for guidance as lives have become unmanageable with addiction, it helps to think about Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and how to develop a moral inventory, the key to finding balance and hope in 12-step recovery.

Searching and Fearless Moral Inventory in Recovery

The personal inventory people do in addiction recovery is difficult because it requires a deep, searching perspective that is important to do if a person wants to heal. With addiction, people rarely do inner work because addiction keeps people on the surface, rather than looking below. Drugs and alcohol are only symptoms, and they keep a person locked inside of addiction for a very long time. While making a personal, moral, inventory, it means looking at what has taken place in a person’s life and see what it all means in the grand scheme of things.

Moral Inventory

When starting a moral inventory, it helps to write down all the resentments towards people, places, and things. Looking at all of them can bring up myriad emotions like anger, sadness, regret, fear, and other feelings. As the inventory takes shape, the list expands to what is affected by the situation and, when the list is complete, it means sitting down to analyze things further. This is difficult for people with addiction. It is easier to believe in not having control over the things that happen in life than only the actions of oneself.

How Moral Inventory Helps With Addiction

It is easy to overlook the wrongs done by oneself and hold things against other people. Once each role has been identified, it is easier to put pen to paper and see that role more defined. It means finding the willingness to openly admit wrongs in order to set things straight. While it may be hard, it is imperative to recover. When honestly looking back at a person’s life, it means they are ready to move forward to the next step. Recovery is about phases as it is a journey. It means people go on the journey and begin to move forward one step at a time, without worrying whether or not they have done one hundred percent of the work. Honestly, it is never finished, but there are moments of clarity that come and can help address the issues with honesty and openness for the person to heal and recovery well. Moral inventories are difficult and challenging, but they are a key part of the 12-step process the substance abuse treatment process. Healing takes time and it is necessary for the journey but take it one day at a time and don’t rush into anything before being ready. There is no game to play or hurry to get to the next step. It will happen when it is meant to happen.

The Last Resort understands how hard it is to deal with doing the steps of recovery. That is why we integrate a 12-step approach into therapeutic work so we can help you find hope and healing on the other side of addiction. No matter how you come to Last Resort, we are here to help you journey forward with a focus on healing from the inside out.