Substance abuse disorder wrecks millions of lives. It can seem as if there is no hope. However, through treatment, there is hope in recovery. But how does recovery work? Is there some kind of guideline or list of rules?
While there aren’t any strict rules to learning how to live clean and sober, there are helpful guidelines. One approach to recovery is practicing a 12-step program. There have been millions who have recovered from various addictions and afflictions using the basic 12-step model.
But can the 12-steps help with your recovery in an inpatient rehab center? Let’s explore why the structure and suggestions presented in a 12-step program can help you establish a solid foundation during your inpatient treatment.
A Good First Step
From the very beginning, the 12-step model helps provide a solid first step towards recovery. This first step of the collective twelve has saved millions of lives from the despair of addiction. It is the only idea in the 12-steps that is ever mentioned as essential.
Appreciating that your addiction has rendered you powerless isn’t hard. Few come seeking recovery if they still have control over their substance abuse. The second idea in this initial step is to connect how this powerlessness has led to an unmanageable life.
Once you open your mind to this simple connection, your journey will have started. The remaining eleven steps in the 12-step program build on one another. However, none is as critical to that first step where you surrender to win.
A Recipe for Responsibility
The remaining eleven steps following step-one are mentioned as only suggestions. Not everyone practices the steps exactly the same way. You are unique in many respects, but with that one connecting similarity, you lost power to control your substance abuse.
You may not complete all the remaining steps during an inpatient rehab program. However, you will be able to gain valuable insight into how each one works, and why each one has its own vital importance in your recovery.
There are multiple steps in the 12-step program that directly call for you to take responsibility for yourself. You are never asked to explain or condone anyone else’s actions. The steps are yours. With help, you will explore each step yourself.
Even though the 12-steps are mentioned as only suggestions, there is a common reference made in recovery fellowships. Some will chuckle when they stress the steps are only suggestions, but so is pulling the cord on a parachute.
A Guideline for Recovery
Even after you leave an inpatient treatment facility and return to your normal day-to-day life, the 12-steps are there. They can become a guideline for recovery. Many of the steps are mentioned as more than onetime parts of a lifelong journey in recovery.
Many revisit various steps throughout their life. It is a model for handling the normal everyday events that befall everyone, especially someone trying to stay clean and sober. While each step builds on the previous, none of the steps after the first is ever practiced perfectly.
We do the best we can with what we have. As you practice each of the 12-steps, even during your initial experience in recovery at a rehab facility, you will begin to appreciate their importance.
Always remember, the 12-steps are not rigid rules, but suggested guidelines for recovery. The most acknowledged 12-step program is the one used in Alcoholics Anonymous. Even this series of steps to help an alcoholic stay sober was built on years of experience battling other human afflictions.
It isn’t a rigid set of rules and mandates written in stone. The 12-steps are a series of suggested ways to do more than just stay off drugs and alcohol. It is a guideline for responsible living. Practicing the 12-steps in your daily living will also affect how you deal with the normal day-to-day events of life.
If you feel you have a problem with drugs or alcohol, but have never asked for help, reach out to someone. Help is available. All it takes is a simple phone call to begin a wonderful journey where you can become free of the chains of addiction.
You may choose to complete a treatment program. If you do, you most likely will learn about the 12-steps. Remember, they are not rules. The 12-steps are not meant as mandates. They are a guide to a happier life. Reach out for help today, and you can begin your journey in recovery. Call us at 833-846-5669.