About the 12-Step Principles
Treatment at White Deer Run of York is based upon the principles of the 12 Steps, a time-tested recovery model that has helped millions of adults.
Developed by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in the 1930s, the 12 Steps emphasize personal accountability, abstinence, humility, honesty, powerlessness over addiction and connection with a higher power.
The 12 Steps
The following are the 12 Steps of addiction recovery:
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol–that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
The Benefits of the 12-Step Model
The following are among the many benefits of the 12-Step Model:
- Access to a sober peer support system
- Emphasis on personal accountability and a spiritual connection
- 12-Step groups can be found almost anywhere at least a few times a week
- 12-Step groups can be used in conjunction with other treatments
12-Step support groups can be found in every U.S. state and in many other countries. The 12-Step model offers both the structure of a time-tested approach and the flexibility to be personalized to meet your specific situation.
Though there is a spiritual component to the 12 Steps, belief in any specific religion (or, for that matter, belief in any religion at all) is not a prerequisite.
At White Deer Run, you will learn how to incorporate the principles of the 12-Step Model into your personalized plan for pursuing lifelong recovery.
Read more about Addiction.
