12-Step Programs

Twelve step programs are rehabilitative programs based on the stipulation of anonymity: Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, et cetera. It is understood that no one at meetings will repeat what they hear, and no one will be judged for what they share during discussions. What you tell your sponsor remains private between you and your sponsor. Members need not even share their last names if they have concerns about their addictions, their treatments or their past behaviors while under the influence.

These are the original Twelve Steps as published by Alcoholics Anonymous:

  1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
  2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
  3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
  4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
  5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
  6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
  7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
  8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
  9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
  10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.

Q: Are 12-Step programs steeped in religious training?

A: No. 12-Step programs try to reach a patient's spiritual as well as emotional needs. A person's religious faith or lack of faith does not matter.

Q: Do I need to choose a faith to seek rehabilitation at Caron?

A: Again, no. Our program assists patients in finding their core values and spiritual center.
The Caron professionals strongly believe in the 12-Step approach when dealing with compulsions and addictions, and tailors their programs to reflect this belief.