The twelve-step recovery model of Alcoholics Anonymous

The twelve-step recovery model of AA: a voluntary mutual help association

Alcoholism treatment has evolved to mean professionalized, scientifically based rehabilitation.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is not a treatment method; it is far better understood as a Twelve-Step Recovery Program within a voluntary self-help/mutual aid organization of self-defined alcoholics.

The Twelve-Step Recovery Model is elaborated in three sections, patterned on the AA logo (a triangle within a circle): The triangle’s legs represent recovery, service, and unity;

• The circle represents the reinforcing effect of the three legs upon each other as well as the "technology" of the sharing circle and the fellowship.
• The first leg of the triangle, recovery, refers to the journey of individuals to abstinence and a new "way of living."
• The second leg, service, refers to helping other alcoholics which also connects the participants into a fellowship.
• The third leg, unity, refers to the fellowship of recovering alcoholics, their groups, and organizations.

The distinctive AA organizational structure of an inverted pyramid is one in which the members in autonomous local groups direct input to the national service bodies creating a democratic, egalitarian organization maximizing recovery.

Analysts describe the AA recovery program as complex, implicitly grounded in sound psychological principles, and more sophisticated than is typically understood.

AA provides a nonmedicalized and anonymous "way of living" in the community and should probably be referred to as the Twelve-Step/Twelve Tradition Recovery Model in order to clearly differentiate it from professionally based twelve-step treatments.

From; Borkman T. The twelve-step recovery model of AA: a voluntary mutual help association. Recent Dev Alcohol. 2008;18:9-35.

See also;

• Twelve Step Facilitation
• Brief-TSF Description
• Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism/Third Edition

Alcohol Guidance for UK Doctors

UK Guidance for GP alcohol Directed Enhanced Service

A United Kingdom guidance document has been released to support the delivery of clinical directed enhanced services, alcohol being one of the five key health and service priorities.

The DES allows specific funding for GP’s to deliver Screening and Brief Interventions (SBIs) to newly registered patients. The DES’s began in April 2008 and are scheduled to run for 2 years backed by UK£50 million funding proposed earlier in the year, with an annual UK£8 million alcohol allocation.

According to the guidance, practices are required to screen newly registered patients using a shortened screening tool such as FAST. Those identified as positive will be given the full AUDIT test to determine if they are drinking at hazardous or harmful levels, and then offered the recommended intervention of 5 minutes brief advice in line with University of Newcastle’s primary care guidance ‘How Much is too much?’.

Dependant drinkers should be referred to local treatment services.

Full story at Alcohol Policy UK.

See also;

• Current Social Problems
• Helping an Alcoholic is Possible in Right Circumstances
• If you have healthcare training this manual may help.
• Screening for Alcohol Problems
• Subscribe to Alcohol Self-help News by e-Mail

10 Steps to Happiness

Ten Keys to Happiness By Deepak Chopra

Physical well being is inseparable from emotional well being. Happy people are healthy people. The wisdom traditions of the world tell us that happiness does not depend on what you have, but on who you are. Let’s take a moment to reflect on what really creates happiness in us.

The following ten keys, gleaned from the wisdom traditions, may give us some insight.

1. Listen to your body’s wisdom, which expresses itself through signals of comfort and discomfort. When choosing a certain behavior, ask your body, ‘How do you feel about this?’ If your body sends a signal of physical or emotional distress, watch out. If your body sends a signal of comfort and eagerness, proceed.
2. Live in the present, for it is the only moment you have. Keep your attention on what is here and now; look for the fullness in every moment. Accept what comes to you totally and completely so that you can appreciate it, learn from it, and then let it go. The present is as it should be. It reflects infinite laws of Nature that have brought you this exact thought, this exact physical response. This moment is as it is because the universe is as it is. Don’t struggle against the infinite scheme of things; instead, be at one with it.
3. Take time to be silent, to meditate, to quiet the internal dialogue. In moments of silence, realize that you are recontacting your source of pure awareness. Pay attention to your inner life so that you can be guided by intuition rather than externally imposed interpretations of what is or isn’t good for you.
4. Relinquish your need for external approval. You alone are the judge of your worth, and your goal is to discover infinite worth in yourself, no matter what anyone else thinks. There is great freedom in this realization.
5. When you find yourself reacting with anger or opposition to any person or circumstance, realize that you are only struggling with yourself. Putting up resistance is the response of defenses created by old hurts. When you relinquish this anger, you will be healing yourself and cooperating with the flow of the universe.
6. Know that the world ‘out there’ reflects your reality ‘in here.’ The people you react to most strongly, whether with love or hate, are projections of your inner world. What you most hate is what you most deny in yourself. What you most love is what you most wish for in yourself. Use the mirror of relationships to guide your evolution. The goal is total self-knowledge. When you achieve that, what you most want will automatically be there, and what you most dislike will disappear.
7. Shed the burden of judgment you will feel much lighter. Judgment imposes right and wrong on situations that just are. Everything can be understood and forgiven, but when you judge, you cut off understanding and shut down the process of learning to love. In judging others, you reflect your lack of self-acceptance. Remember that every person you forgive adds to your self love.
8. Don’t contaminate your body with toxins, either through food, drink, or toxic emotions. Your body is more than a life-support system. It is the vehicle that will carry you on the journey of your evolution. The health of every cell directly contributes to your state of well being, because every cell is a point of awareness within the field of awareness that is you.
9. Replace fear-motivated behavior with love-motivated behavior. Fear is the product of memory, which dwells in the past. Remembering what hurt us before, we direct our energies toward making certain that an old hurt will not repeat itself. But trying to impose the past on the present will never wipe out the threat of being hurt. That happens only when you find the security of your own being, which is love. Motivated by the truth inside you, you can face any threat because your inner strength is invulnerable to fear.
10. Understand that the physical world is just a mirror of a deeper intelligence. Intelligence is the invisible organizer of all matter and energy, and since a portion of this intelligence resides in you, you share in the organizing power of the cosmos. Because you are inseparably linked to everything, you cannot afford to foul the planet’s air and water. But at a deeper level, you cannot afford to live with a toxic mind, because every thought makes an impression on the whole field of intelligence. Living in balance and purity is the highest good for you and the Earth.

Deepak Chopra

See also;

• 10 Secrets of Happy Relationships
• 24 Ways to get the Rest You Need
• Cooking up Recovery
• Subscribe by e-Mail to Alcohol Self-help News

Do You Love an Alcoholic?

There Is Help for Families and Friends of Alcoholics

Do you know, care about, or love someone who suffers from the disease of alcoholism? If the answer is yes, you are not alone. For every alcoholic out there, there can be dozens, perhaps hundreds of people who have been or are affected by his or her disease as well. Family members, relatives, friends, and co-workers can all suffer as a result of loving, caring about, or depending on the alcoholic in some way.

The good news is that there is help for us, too. While most people realize there are rehabilitation and 12-step programs available for those suffering from the disease, not everyone knows about the programs designed to help those suffering from the effects of alcoholism in a relative or friend. Among these is Al-Anon, which was adapted from the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

Al-Anon was founded in 1951 by two women who were married to alcoholics. One was the wife of Bill W. who co-founded AA. Today there are nearly 25,000 Al-Anon groups (of untold sizes) in 131 countries and its literature is translated into over 32 different languages. In its 2006 U.S. and Canada Member Survey, 94 percent of its members said they would definitely recommend Al-Anon to others and 81 percent said that their lives were “much improved” by attendance at Al-Anon meetings. Why is Al-Anon so popular?

The behaviors we develop as a way of coping with the disease of alcoholism in a loved one can ultimately threaten our own well-being. When we care about an alcoholic, our good intentions can lead to caretaking, sometimes called “enabling.” This detrimental process often results in our attempts to spare the alcoholic from having to face the consequences of his or her behaviors. Even though our actions come from a place of love or goodwill, they can in fact prevent the alcoholic from experiencing that which may ultimately lead to his or her decision to get help.

Full story at Anchor Web

See also;

• Alcoholic Family Roles
• Al-Anon May be able to help
• Adult Children of Alcoholics
• Alcohol intervention may help.
• Subscribe by e-Mail to Alcohol Self-help News

Parents Urged to Act on Underage Drinking

 

The prestigious medical journal the Lancet urges parents to act on underage drinking

Parents should take the greatest share of responsibility for steering teenagers away from binge drinking, according to an editorial in the Lancet. It said underage drinking had risen substantially during the past 10 years, and nearly one-third of teenagers were now binge drinkers.

Early abuse of alcohol increased the risk of serious health problems for teenagers, with more falling prey to fatal accidents, self-harm, suicide, violent behaviour, unprotected sex, alcohol dependence and liver disease, the journal said. Learning to enjoy alcohol, in moderation, was “an important part of growing up” in many societies, but it was a lesson not being taught in the UK.

In Britain and Ireland, young people are drinking more than ever before – and often substantially more than in the US, France and Mediterranean countries. According to the Lancet, 27% of British 15-year-olds admit to having had at least five alcoholic drinks in a row in the past month, up from 22% in 1995, and 29% of teenage girls binge drink. Nearly half of the alcohol drunk by young people comes from the family home, with the rest from supermarkets, shops, off-licences and bars.

Full story at; the Guardian, UK.

See also;

Drugs and Addiction Information for Parents and Teachers