Worldwide, the consumption of alcohol has been commonly used for various reasons, such as celebration, religion, or social interaction. However, when these occasions of drinking alcohol are taken advantage of, a maladaptive pattern is attained leading to clinically significant impairment or distress as the alcohol consumption enters into a stage of abuse (DSM-IV-TR, p. 114). This paper will examine the processes within the treatment models ofor alcohol abuse, critically evaluating and implicating a deeper aspect of this addiction. Alcohol abuse causes multiple issues, especially if remained untreated; it destroys careers, friendships, families, and most significantly the lives of the abusers’. It can be a challenge for any person that abuses alcohol abuser to accept treatment for their addiction. Fortunately in some cases, after an intervention takes place, in which loved ones cry out with their deepest emotions and worries, the individual whom is abusing alcohol agrees to get help for their problem and takes a huge leap in the direction of recovery. Once in treatment the processes available are broad, but a very common process for new comers is to complete the twelve-step program. The first twelve-step program was generated in Akron, Ohio in 1935 by Dr. Bob Smith and Bill Wilson ("The history of," 2012). Although it was created for recovering alcoholics, the twelve-step recovery process hads been adopted by many other support groups resulting in a well-known, successful program. “Alcohol Anonymous” was the title of the first book to develop examining the twelve-step recovery process, generally known from group members as the “Big Book.” Following the extensive growth of the “Big Book,” multiple other books were written discussing in further detail the extent of the twelve-step program, including testimonies from individuals who hadve used the twelve-steps, embracing the range of change fulfilled in their lives concluding from the program. ("About the 12-step," 2012). Many people who have used the twelve step recovery program have not only been facilitated to quit their addiction but also have been guided in a direction toward a new way of life (T., 2009). The twelve-steps are generally the same for everyone with only a few wording changes to fit each support group exactly. The following are the twelve steps taken from Abbott’s book “Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs: Challenging Myths, Assessing Theories, Individualizing Interventions” reading the steps as they are written for an Alcoholics Anonymous support group:
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 the 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 contract 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. (p. 390)
Usually when an individual is using the twelve-step program, they have reached a point of powerlessness and decided to stop giving-in and feeding their addiction. Step one takes a huge place in this