Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a twelve-step plan for those hurting from alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction. Anyone with the disease alcoholism can benefit from the twelve step program because it presents a plan for making the disease manageable. It will help one understand the reality of the disease that they have. A disease that they will have for life. Yes, alcoholism is a degenerative disease. There is no cure and it is essential for the individual to learn how to live with the disease. If they do not, it can and will end the life they have. The method of recovery from your disease begins with the admission that you are powerless over alcohol. That you have a disease and that you can overcome the consequences by following the twelve steps.

Even though the AA 12 step program isn't the only treatment program available it is one that is often proposed to complement other programs. And, because it is a well-known program, there is normaly a feeling of confidence. Also, by stepping into the rooms of AA, one will feel a definate sense of acceptance.

When you first start to work the 12 step program of AA, the first step is to understand that you are powerless over alcohol and that your life is unmanagable. Coming to this realization, is, to some, comforting. They feel better knowing that they have a disease and that they are not going crazy. To come to the realization that one is an alcoholic suffering from a chronic disease called alcoholism that can be treated is a comfort. Once you get honest with yourself and admit where you are in life and that you have a need to recover from your addiction to alcohol you can then start the process of learning how to manage your disease.

You will be shown that following the twelve steps will not be easy but that all twelve steps are an essential part of your road to recovery.

One of the basic parts of recovery is coming to the realization that there's a power bigger than you in the universe, that some call God. That by improving your relationship with God, as you understand "God", your life will get better. This is because the recovery program at AA has a very strong spiritual component. This is not a religeous program but a spiritual program. This component though is non-denominational. You will not be forced to follow any individual denominational thinking or to join any religion. It is simply suggested that you recognize that part of managing disease will depend on your spiritual connection. We are asked to know that there is a God/higher power and that we are not him/her.

It is suggested that one should continue to practice the program long after having completed going through all twelve steps of the program. Those who attend your local AA meetings are just like you. They are dealing with a killer disease, alcoholism. They know where you are coming from because they have been there. They also know where you are headed if you do not learn how to manage your disease. The best support you can get is from someone that understands your problems. The AA twelve-step program is based on the belief that when an individual alcoholic accepts that there is a higher power it is the key to overcoming alcoholism. And is the beginning of a long road to learning how to manage the symptoms of the disease.