One of the most common types of drug and alcohol rehabs involve those making use of the 12 steps from alcoholics anonomous. The basis of the 12 steps involve an admission of one’s powerlessness over drugs or alcohol. By then asking assistance from a Higher Power, ( God, the Universe, Budda, or whatever your belief system is) you go through a process involving the other steps to rebuild your life.

Tweleve Step programs have a couple of advantages that are apparent no matter what style of program it is. One is that they are 12 step meetings all over the world. When you leave the rehab treatment center, you will always be able to find a meeting to attend if you want to connect.

These programs are usually somewhat cheaper to run, so they may be less expensive. All the materials for the 12 steps are readily available at a reasonable cost. Because 12 steps involve a lot of self-help or group help type meetings again they are simpler and easier to run.

These Steps and Traditions have been around for over 50 years so there is a lot of history and it certainly has a long established track record. The success rate for 12 step drug and alcohol rehabs obviously varies from place to place. The data does seem to show that 12 step rehabs work better with male alcoholics over 45, than other types of clients.

There are also a few common dislikes or drawbacks if you wish to treatment programs following the 12 Steps. The involvement of a “higher power” creates a problem or roadblock for some clients. Some people balk at this as well as the requirement of an admission of powerlessness. I am not saying these steps are wrong, but that if someone has a large block against them, most of a 28 day program may be wasted fighting over their validity to someone who is dead set against them. This wastes the clients money and time as well as that of the rehab.

The other concern is that of attending AA style meetings where the group is not homogeneously sober. Most 12 Step meetings have people actively using, some struggling to stop, and others of varying degrees of sobriety. When you are struggling to stop using drugs or alcohol, sometimes sitting besides someone who is actively using is too much temptation. So being able to attend meetings after you leave rehab may not be such a great advantage as first hoped for.

The last concern expressed by clients who found 12 step not for them is the feeling that 12 step programs are the “only” way to long term sobriety. They felt that if they didn’t live the 12 steps they were doomed to failure. While I do not doubt these rehabs conviction, the data shows there are several ways to long term sobriety, 12 steps just being one of them.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 31st, 2006 at 10:48 am and is filed under Drug Addiction, Drug Rehab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.