Finding Good

For this series, I set to find out: what are the Twelve Steps of Recovery and what is it actually like to work them? Listen here for a quick intro to AA and Al-Anon, the steps as a whole, and to hear the 12 Steps and 12 Promises of AA before jumping into the following episodes. Hope you enjoy!

(For reference: The 12 Steps and Promises are copyrighted by AA. Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (1989). Twelve steps and twelve...

For years, Matt knew he was powerless over his drinking, no question. The key to Step 1 and the start of his recovery was his life becoming truly 'unmanageable.' Matt’s shares what made him finally choose rehab and how dedicating himself to working the Twelve Steps changed him from wanting to give up on life to wanting to make the most of it.

'I feel like I was given a lot of potential to really help other people, to do some grea...

Sam wasn’t sure he believed in god or a 'Higher Power' and thought he might have to give up on Al-Anon because of that. Sam shares how his sponsor gave him a new perspective that allowed him to explore not knowing but still trusting in something greater than himself, even if it was the group of people in a meeting. His trust became an important part of his recovery- and still is.

‘Having that concept of a High Power takes the press...

Victoria grew up with religion and was comfortable believing in a Higher Power. In her drinking, which increased in the middle of her life, she ended up doing things she never thought she would which she tried to ‘hide’ from god and her family. She ended up in the ICU and then rehab. She knew she had to change or she would lose her relationships with her kids- let alone her life. On one particularly hard night, she, in her words, s...

Like a lot of people in 12-Step programs, Eleanor was terrified (her word) to approach Step 4 which involves making a ‘moral inventory’ of oneself. Eleanor sponsor's experience helped her change her perspective from looking at Step 4 as a painful process that would prove she was a horrible person to looking at the it as a way to better understand herself and the coping skills she developed in past that no longer serve her. She shar...

Many people might shy away from admitting their hardest, most painful choices at all- let alone out loud to another person. Kimberly, however, was ready and willing to share her 5th Step with her sponsor. She shares how the previous steps prepared her for Step 5 and the clarity and freedom that this step gave her. She may even have enjoyed it.

‘I was finally seeing the real picture….It was a little shocking but it was really freein...

Step 6 seems like a quiet step but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a deeply powerful one. Tom shares why Step 6 and Step 7, 'the fulcrum of the steps' as he sees them, are so important to him and his ongoing recovery that he continues to revisit and practice them.

‘It’s really about asking your Higher Power, for you to foresee a future life without [your defects] where you could be a much great version of yourself. That’s a lot about th...

With over 10 years in Alanon, Brian found himself struggling. Every day was a challenge. He asked a long-time member to be his sponsor and work with him through the steps again. In that process, he found a new kind of acceptance. He shares his journey and how his practice of acceptance helped him approach Step 7 in which, as he describes it, his Higher Power did not remove the defects he wanted removed but how the process brought c...