A comprehensive assessment from outsiders on the effectiveness of AA and the 12 steps. They touch on the power of practices and experiences such as: Fellowship, connection with others, helping others, spirituality and the idea of a psychic change.
Here is the opening statements from the article:
Science has never revealed as much about addiction—potential
genetic causes, influences, and triggers, and the resultant brain
activity—or offered as many opportunities and methods for initial
treatment as it does now.
Even so, the grassroots 12-step program remains the preferred prescription for achieving long-term sobriety.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130809-addiction-twelve-steps-alcoholics-anonymous-science-neurotheology-psychotherapy-dopamine/
Your thoughts?
Boy did they get that one right!
ReplyDeleteAA treats the social situation by providing a new set of friends with a different set of values and expectations than our old drinking buddies. We get friends who hold us accountable for staying sober.
AA provides workable steps that can be taken, one by one, so as to make the program manageable. And the steps lead us to self-reflection rather than denial or just taking a medication. AA takes us to the core of our problem--our stinking thinking and screwed-up set of priorities, and to our self-destructive self-centeredness. It empowers a change from within the self.
And it finds power in a spiritual source that many of us call "God." As we tune in to our "Higher Power" we find a peace and strength that we never had while we were drinking.
AA gives us a reason for living that goes far beyond our own pleasure and profit. It is more than just step 12. Having a transcendent purpose in life is life-giving; it brings nobility to our life and enables us to endure the difficulties, disappointments and tragedies of life.
The science of brain activity is good. It helps us understand what might be going on inside our heads. But AA does so much more than that. It helps us change. It empowers sobriety. It saves lives, marriages, families, jobs, dignity. It leads us to the fullness of life that Jesus said he came to give us.