The 12 Steps & 12 Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous

Twelve step programs use an adaptation of these steps and traditions in their programs.

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.

Two

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Three

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him.

Four

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Five

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Six

Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Seven

Humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings.

Eight

Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Nine

Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Ten

Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Eleven

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Twelve

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The 12 Traditions

One

Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon AA Unity.

Two

For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscious. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

Three

The only requirement for AA membership is the desire to stop drinking.

Four

Each group should remain autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or AA as a whole.

Five

Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.

Six

An AA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, or prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

Seven

Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

Eight

Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.

Nine

AA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

Ten

Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the AA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

Eleven

Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.

Twelve

Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

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