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 other drugs, 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. You only need to want 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.
The 12 Steps, one by one
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.
Steps 1 to 3 of 12
Honesty.
Admitting the addiction has beaten your own best efforts, and becoming open to help.
1
Step 1: Being honest about the problem
Admitting that drinking or using has beaten your own best efforts to control it, and that it is causing serious problems in daily life. It is a starting point, not a verdict on you.
2
Step 2: Becoming open to help
Coming to believe that help from beyond your own willpower could get you well, in whatever way makes sense to you. For many people it starts with the group itself.
3
Step 3: Deciding to accept that help
Choosing to stop running everything on willpower alone, and letting the programme and the people in it guide you. It is a decision you renew, not a single leap.
Steps 4 to 9 of 12
Clearing the wreckage.
An honest look at your past, said out loud to someone you trust, and repairing harm where you can.
4
Step 4: Taking an honest look at yourself
Writing down an honest account of your past: resentments, fears and the patterns behind them, the good as well as the bad.
5
Step 5: Saying it out loud
Talking that account through with someone you trust, usually a sponsor, so it stops being a secret you carry alone.
6
Step 6: Becoming ready to change
Becoming willing to let go of the patterns you found, including the ones that once seemed to help.
7
Step 7: Asking for help to change
Asking for help with those patterns, and practising doing things differently, one day at a time.
8
Step 8: Listing the harm done
Making a list of the people your behaviour has hurt, and becoming willing to put things right.
9
Step 9: Making amends
Repairing that harm directly wherever you can, unless that would cause fresh harm to them or someone else.
Steps 10 to 12 of 12
Staying well.
Keeping short accounts, continuing to grow, and passing on what you were given.
10
Step 10: Keeping short accounts
Checking in with yourself each day and owning up promptly when you get something wrong, before it builds up.
11
Step 11: Staying grounded
Keeping up a daily practice of quiet reflection or meditation, in whatever form suits you, to stay connected to what keeps you well.
12
Step 12: Passing it on
Passing on what you have learned to people who are still struggling, and putting it into practice in everyday life. It is where sponsorship comes from.
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 want 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 12,000+ 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 who wants 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 who wants to stop drinking. Narcotics Anonymous is for anyone who wants to stop using drugs. Cocaine Anonymous welcomes anyone who wants to stop using cocaine. 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.
If drinking is the problem and you want a starting point before any meeting, our guides to stopping drinking and alcohol withdrawal cover the practical first steps.
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.