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This step is not saying you are powerless over your actions, decisions, or relationships with others; only over your addiction to alcohol or drugs. It is not an excuse to continue in a destructive cycle because there’s nothing you can do about it. In essence, in Step One AA you’re making a conscious choice to stop lying to yourself. You accept that you can’t continue drinking alcohol or using drugs and that you have absolutely no control when you’re using.

• How does AA Step 1 help you continue with the remaining steps?
• It demonstrates the paradox of powerlessness and the role of surrender.
• Ultimately, Wilson broke away from the group to develop an organization specifically formed to contend with alcoholism, a problem rampant during his era and one that continues to plague millions in the U.S. and abroad.

Questions to Ask Yourself in 1st Step AA

Step 1 of AA acknowledges the need for members to hit rock bottom to understand alcohol addiction’s destructive nature. Feeling powerless makes us believe that there is nothing we can do. We don’t have the power over the obsession to drink, nor do we have the power to control how much we drink once we start. What we can do is turn to a Power greater than ourselves for help. We let this Power do what we are unable to do for ourselves.

Myth 2: Powerlessness Equates To Weakness

The first step is about powerlessness over behavior that makes the individual’s life unmanageable. When we admit that we are powerless over alcohol or drugs, we admit that we are living with a disease that alters the chemical makeup of the brain. Someone suffering from this disease did not make a choice to go too far and lose control, and they are not inherently lacking in values or good character. There is an instructive, and important, wrinkle here, illustrated by the sibling Twelve Step program of Al-Anon. When the early recovering alcoholics met, their wives began congregating around the kitchen table wondering how the Twelve Steps might heal some of their wounds and often resentful behavior. They shared how each had pled, cried, demanded, shouted, withdrawn, over-controlled, and ignored their alcoholic husbands, but generally concluded that they too were powerless.

Support for Me and My Family

This is the first step of the 12 step programs of Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon programs, which have been attended by millions of people over the last several decades. By seeking help for alcohol addiction in Step 1 of AA, you admit that you’re powerless to stop drinking on your own. Your counselor can help you learn strategies to powerless over alcohol stop drinking and can be one of the people you reach out to when you are struggling. Alcoholics Anonymous Step 1 is the beginning of a 12-step program to get and stay sober. Taking this first step and admitting you are struggling with alcohol misuse can be difficult, but it is the foundation of all positive change according to AA.

• Call (844) 234-LIVE today for information on our partial care programs.
• God or a higher power is mentioned several times throughout the 12 steps.
• Admitting powerlessness in sobriety can empower you to get the help and support you need to manage your life.
• We have the power to change jobs when we wish, live where we wish, marry, stay single, worship as we please, or not.

“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.” – Step One of the 12 Steps

American Addiction Centers (AAC) is committed to delivering original, truthful, accurate, unbiased, and medically current information. We strive to create content that is clear, concise, and easy to understand. Completing Step 1 of Alcoholics Anonymous can look different for everyone. It may include tasks such as speaking at an AA meeting, telling someone if you feel like drinking, working with a counselor, getting an AA sponsor, and/or telling someone if you do drink.

Admitting powerlessness is not the same as admitting weakness. It means asking for help, leaning on others and relying on your support system. It means admitting—and accepting—that you’re living with a disease that alters your brain. It might seem backward, but when you admit that you don’t have power, you finally access the power you need. They were personally convinced that they were unable to control the effect alcohol had on them. They were bankrupt as far as any new strategies were concerned.

Admitting powerlessness over a narrow, but deep, part of life.

• So if you tell your sponsor or other safe person that you drank as soon as you can after sobering up, it can be a way of admitting you are powerless over alcohol.
• What does “powerless” mean when it comes to alcoholism/addiction?
• This became the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, which they offered as a path to finding freedom from alcohol addiction.
• There are many alcohol addiction treatment options today.
• Our hope is merely to capture the spirit of the fellowships, and to approach people with the language they commonly use to describe the disease of addiction.

That is why many people consider it to be a family disease. If you’re struggling with alcohol use—whether or not you’re in AA—it is up to you https://ecosoberhouse.com/ to choose how you describe your situation. Ultimately, the important thing is that you are working toward self-improvement and recovery.