12 Step Alcohol Program

12 Step Alcohol Program

A 12 step alcohol program usually refers to AA or Alcoholics Anonymous, although there are many inpatient and outpatient treatment programs which have a 12 step focus.

The focus of AA is on the development of a one day at a time reprieve from the urge to drink through an a connection to your higher power as you understand the higher power.

That particular kind of spiritual experience grows to become stronger than the urge to drink through attending AA meetings and, more importantly, working the 12 steps.

Working the 12 steps means thinking about them, mulling them over, trying to fit them into your life, making life decisions based on the steps.

Depending on the sponsorship arrangement you have, you may work through the steps sequentially, beginning with 1 and ending with 12, and working in the 12 traditions also.

But you will probably read them all when you read the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is the instruction manual to the program.

The Big Book is a compilation of the founder's, most prominent of whom were Bill Wilson, and Dr. Robert Smith, and their struggles to find a program that kept chronic alcoholics sober.

For example, if the 12 step alcohol program includes mention of God, how will it work for an atheist? The founders dealt with that in the early days.

The 12th step speaks to service, carrying the message to the still suffering alcoholic, and when I struggle to make decisions based on a model of service, I am working the step, even if it is about service to someone or something other than the still struggling alcoholic.

That is what I mean by incorporating steps into your everyday life, and thinking.

If I am working the 4rth step and trying to figure out what a fearless and thorough moral inventory is, I am working the step, and not only am I working the step, I am changing the circuitry in my brain in a very healthy direction.

The founders of the 12 step alcohol program did not have access to fMRI or functional magnetic resonance imagery for brain scans, but those brain scans are showing how brains working a 12 step recovery program are changing in a positive neuroplastic direction as a result of attention paid to the steps, or a step, or the Serenity Prayer, or a relationship with a sponsor, or a home group, or the Big Book.

The fMRI is confirming that brains once besotted are now healing and returning to normalcy, and perhaps even getting bigger in some parts associated with spirituality.

Yes, a brain can get better if given a chance to heal.

Bill W. and Dr. Bob did not know about neurogenesis in 1935, but it is important to us today. We know that the brain grows new brain cells every day, and we know now that ethyl alcohol interferes with that growth. Take the ethyl alcohol away and the neurogenesis brings us new brain cells to use in understanding the 12 steps and traditions, and the decisions we need to make today about use and life decisions.

Attention is the Key

The following information is from a Wall Street Journal article by Sharon Begley which speaks to what neuroscientist are discovering about the impact of meditation on the human brain.

..."Except for one thing. In between meditations, the gamma signal in the monks never died down. Even when they were not meditating, their brains were different from the novices' brains, marked by waves associated with perception, problem solving and consciousness. Moreover, the more hours of meditation training a monk had had, the stronger and more enduring the gamma signal.

It was something Prof. Davidson had been seeking since he trekked into the hills above Dharamsala to study lamas and monks: evidence that mental training can create an enduring brain trait.

Prof. Davidson then used fMRI imaging to detect which regions of the monks' and novices' brains became active during compassion meditation. The brains of all the subjects showed activity in regions that monitor one's emotions, plan movements, and generate positive feelings such as happiness. Regions that keep track of what is self and what is other became quieter, as if during compassion meditation the subjects opened their minds and hearts to others.

More interesting were the differences between the monks and the novices. The monks had much greater activation in brain regions called the right insula and caudate, a network that underlies empathy and maternal love. They also had stronger connections from the frontal regions to the emotion regions, which is the pathway by which higher thought can control emotions.

In each case, monks with the most hours of meditation showed the most dramatic brain changes. That was a strong hint that mental training makes it easier for the brain to turn on circuits that underlie compassion and empathy.

"This positive state is a skill that can be trained," Prof. Davidson says. "Our findings clearly indicate that meditation can change the function of the brain in an enduring way." So there you have it folks, the connection between meditation and positive changes in the brain using modern technology.

I consider that evidence that the 12 step alcohol program is a great way to open your life to compassion.

Unfortunately, it can be a slow process, the development of compassion.

However, there are computer based programs that enhance neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, and they are available for your use now, to enhance your experience of the steps.

I have tried the following 3, and the HeartMath program also. I recommend them without reservation. I hope you can find a way to incorporate them into your recovery work.

Think this tool will help your brain open up the compassion centers? I guarentee it.

Would You Share Something That You Are Grateful For?

When I was beginning my personal growth journey, a wise person told me that when I was feeling resentful or afraid or sad, that I should remember the phrase "gratitude is the attitude" when I was ready to feel better. That phrase has helped me feel better tens of thousands of times.

Would you share what you are most grateful for? Your story could be just what another person is searching for to renew themselves? Thanks.


Have a question and want to talk with a therapist? Call 815-316-2621 for Julie Logan, LCSW, RN. 7121 Windsor Lake Parkway, Loves Park, Illinois 61111 jlogan7264@myway.com