12-Step Therapy

Recovery Lighthouse has a great belief and faith in the power of healing that the 12-step therapy model has to offer individuals suffering from addiction and other related conditions. 12-step therapy has, over the years, accomplished miracles in healing and recovery for addicts and alcoholics around the world. Where more traditional medical and psychiatric methods of treating addiction have failed, 12-step therapy has proved a lifeline for many who ordinarily would never find recovery.

The Origins of 12-Step Therapy

Alcoholics Anonymous, which was founded in 1935, originally developed a philosophy for recovery known as ‘the 12 Steps’; that their members could follow in order to recover from alcoholism. The concept was so successful that the membership of Alcoholics Anonymous grew and grew to the millions that it is today. At the time, and indeed still today, the medical fraternity advocated 12-steps as a successful treatment for alcoholism and other addictions. It was found that the basic principles of the 12-step program could be applied to any addiction and in many cases, individuals suffering from other mental health-related conditions. The 12 step recovery principles also spawned support groups for the loved ones and families of addicts and alcoholics.

How Does 12-Step Therapy Work?

12-step therapy works by bringing about a drastic change in the individual’s thinking, feeling and behaviour. In beginning to practice the 12 step philosophy, the individual firstly recognizes and admits that he or she cannot control their addictive behaviour and that repeated attempts to do so, have both been futile and have caused increased levels of internal and external world ‘unmanageability’, both in the individual’s life and in the lives of others. Having identified the problem as a ‘lack of control’ over addictive behaviour or a related condition and a consequent inability to function fully, the individual becomes less reliant on their current belief systems and more open-minded to identifying alternative ways to gain control over addiction and life problems.

As the individual works through the 12 step program and identifies the internal and external resources they have available to gain control over their addiction, they will also identify any personal ‘blocks’ to maintaining their propensity for control and become more willing to maintain abstinence from addictive or other self-destructive behaviours and embark on a more up-lifting, self-fulfilling, or spiritual way of living, which promotes principles such as honesty, humility, compassion, and altruism.

Recovery Lighthouse provides individuals with an introduction to the 12-steps. For those who complete a longer program, they will have the opportunity to be taken through the whole 12-step program 12-step therapy promotes abstinence from all mood and mind altering drugs, including alcohol and destructive and obsessive behaviours. The 12-step principles provide you with the purpose and direction you need to improve your physical and mental health, and make amends with friends and family.

How We Incorporate 12-Step Therapy

Recovery Lighthouse uses 12-step therapy together with integrative counselling models, including CBT and holistic approaches. Combining these powerful methodologies provides a unique and contemporary addiction treatment program that enables healing and recovery. The structure and intensity of the program delivery is intended to replace the focused and compelling qualities of the addictive relationship. Treatment provides a positive, constructive, healthy, ‘alternative’, therefore, clients are encouraged to re-direct their attention/energies away from a previously self-defeating, destructive course towards increasingly effective functioning.