There are numerous ways to treat substance abuse and mental health issues. However, one of the most common and routinely successful are 12 Step practices. In addition to the more than 60 weekly recovery meetings available within walking distance and clients attending five meetings per week, our clinical team incorporates 12 Step practices into our programming as an option for treatment. Thus, at Integrative Life Center, you or a loved one can find the treatment necessary to heal.
What are 12 Step Practices?
The 12 Step philosophy pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous is used by about 74% of treatment centers. The basic premise of this model is that people can help one another achieve and maintain abstinence from substances of abuse. Patients can do this through meetings in which they share their experiences with one another support each other in the ongoing effort of maintaining independence from substance abuse. We believe the 12 Step process encourages and builds positive mental health which can contribute to long term recovery. The 12 Step method gives patients a place to surrender their addiction, understand their experience, and move forward into their new lives, forming new patterns and learning new coping mechanisms.
What are the 12 Steps?
You may be familiar with 12 Step programs whether Alcoholics Anonymous or some other variations like Narcotics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, etc. However, you may not be aware of just what these twelve steps entail. While the steps or stages may vary slightly from program to program, generally speaking, you can expect the steps to be:
- 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 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.
For many individuals, the traditional 12 steps have too much of an emphasis on religion. Because healing from substance abuse or addiction is something that affects individuals regardless of their religious beliefs, most 12 Step programs lessen this focus. Instead, they replace it with a ‘higher power’ which individuals determine for themselves depending on their experience and needs. What matters the most is participating in the program. This is because it is the kind of program that builds up interpersonal support and allows individuals to contribute to a community of recovery.
Integrative Life Center
12 step practices can be very effective for certain individuals struggling with substance abuse and even mental health issues. Because every individual’s struggle with drugs and alcohol will be different, their path to recovery will also be unique. Similarly, each individual has specific mental health needs requiring customized treatment. Thus, at Integrative Life Center, we make it a point to offer patients a wide variety of therapeutic services to choose from to heal. This allows patients in conjunction with their counselors and therapists to create a treatment plan to address their specific needs. One such way can involve 12 step practices but can also feature:
- Nutrition therapy
- Music therapy
- Art therapy
- Experiential therapy
These therapies, as well as many others, give patients at Integrative Life Center the best chance of making a lasting recovery. So, begin your healing process by contacting us at [Direct].
