The Twelve Step programme is the most widely used approach to recovery from addiction in the world. It is not a treatment, a therapy or a course you enrol on. It is a set of principles for living, worked through with the support of people who have been where you are, in free peer-led meetings that run every day across the UK and Ireland.
This guide explains what the programme is, what the Steps ask of you, how meetings and sponsorship work, and how to take a first step yourself. It is written in plain, modern language, developed with professional input. It is a companion to the fellowships and their meetings, never a replacement for them.
What is the Twelve Step programme?
The programme began with Alcoholics Anonymous in the 1930s and has since been adapted by dozens of fellowships for different addictions: Narcotics Anonymous for drugs, Cocaine Anonymous for cocaine and all other mind-altering substances, Gamblers Anonymous for gambling, and many more. There are also fellowships for the people around an addiction, such as Al-Anon Family Groups for anyone affected by someone else’s drinking.
Whatever the fellowship, the shape is the same. Membership costs nothing and needs no referral. The only requirement is a desire to stop, whether that is drinking, using drugs, or gambling. Meetings are run by their members, not by professionals, and what is said in the room stays in the room.
What do the Steps actually ask of you?
The Twelve Steps themselves belong to the fellowships, and each fellowship publishes its own wording. You will read them on the wall at most meetings. Rather than reprint them here, this is what working through them involves, in plain terms.
The early Steps are about honesty: admitting that the addiction has beaten your own best efforts to control it, and becoming open to the idea that help from beyond your own willpower, however you understand that, could restore some sanity to your life. The middle Steps are about clearing the wreckage: taking a searching look at your own past, saying it out loud to someone you trust, becoming ready to change, and repairing harm done to other people where that can be done without causing more. The later Steps are about staying well: keeping short accounts with yourself, continuing to grow, and passing on to someone else what was freely given to you.
Nobody works the Steps alone, and nobody works them in a weekend. Most people work through them with a sponsor, at their own pace, over months.
What happens at a meeting?
A typical meeting lasts an hour to ninety minutes. There is usually a reading, a speaker sharing their own experience, and time for others to share if they want to. Nobody has to speak. Nobody is asked to prove anything. Meetings marked “Open to all” welcome anyone, including family, friends and professionals; members-only meetings are for people who have the desire to stop. “Closed” refers to who the meeting is for, not to the venue.
Meetings are free, and there is no booking or referral. Just turn up. Our meeting finder covers 10,000+ verified 12-step meetings across the UK and Ireland, searchable by town or postcode. Nervous about walking in? We have written about what your first AA meeting is actually like.
What is a sponsor?
A sponsor is a member with solid recovery of their own who guides you through the Steps one to one. It is not a professional relationship and it costs nothing; it is one person passing on what worked for them. Most people find a sponsor simply by attending the same meetings for a while and asking someone whose recovery they respect. Our guide to how AA sponsorship works covers choosing a sponsor and what to expect.
What are the Twelve Traditions?
Alongside the Steps, each fellowship has Twelve Traditions: the principles that keep the groups themselves healthy. They are the reason meetings feel the way they do. The Traditions keep groups self-supporting and free to attend, keep them out of politics, property and outside causes, keep membership open to anyone with the desire to stop, and protect the anonymity of everyone in the room. When people say a meeting felt safe, the Traditions are usually why. Read more about the Traditions.
Is it religious?
No. The programme is spiritual rather than religious, and the distinction matters in practice. The Steps talk about a power greater than yourself, and leave it entirely to you what that means: for some people it is God in a traditional sense, for others it is the group itself, nature, or simply the fact that other people’s help succeeded where willpower failed. Atheists and agnostics recover in twelve-step fellowships every day, and meetings include people of every faith and none. We look at this question properly in is AA religious?
Which fellowship is right for me?
Go by the problem you want to stop, not by labels. Alcoholics Anonymous is for anyone with a desire to stop drinking. Narcotics Anonymous is for anyone with a desire to stop using drugs. Cocaine Anonymous welcomes anyone with a desire to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances. If someone else’s drinking is the problem, Al-Anon Family Groups are for you, in your own right. Our directory covers 24 fellowships in total; many people try more than one before settling where they feel at home. If cocaine is the problem, our guide to the signs of cocaine addiction and where to get support is a good place to start.
Taking the first step
You do not need to be sure, ready, or even sober to go to a first meeting. You just need to get to a room. Find a meeting near you, or start with our free tools, worksheets and reading, at no cost. If a written guide would help and cost is ever a barrier, get in touch; gifted copies are available through Pay It Forward.
Stepwise Recovery is an independent publisher. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Al-Anon Family Groups, or any twelve-step fellowship or mutual-aid programme. The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions are the copyrighted works of their respective fellowships; this page describes them in our own words. Always confirm meeting details through the fellowship’s own finder before travelling.