Candace Plattor

Description

Is there anyone today who doesn't know someone involved in a 12-Step program? There are 12-Step programs for almost everything we can think of "” alcohol and drug dependency, gambling, eating disorders, compulsive over-spending, sex addiction, smoking, internet addiction, and codependency in relationships, to name but a few. Millions of people all over the world attend these meetings on a regular basis; in fact, it seems that anyone not involved in such a program is now in the minority. I don't deny that 12-Step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Codependents Anonymous, and Al-Anon have helped a significant number of people achieve and maintain sobriety from their addictive behaviours. However, after over 20 years of working in the addiction counseling field, as well as having maintained my own recovery for nearly 25 years, I am convinced that these programs are not appropriate for all people. The 12 Steps were created by the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson, for a group of upper-middle-class white Christian men in 1930"Іs America, and the tenets of the program remain exactly as they were written back then. Is it really a surprise that some of it might not resonate for women, gays, minorities and many others in the 21st century? I attended several different 12-Step programs during the early years of my recovery from addiction to painkillers that were prescribed for the debilitating agony of Crohn's Disease. At that time, in the late 1980's, these groups were the only alternative for people wanting to stop indulging in addictive behaviours, and they quickly became a lifeline for me. Eventually, however, several aspects of the 12 Steps became problematic for me, especially the use of language such as "God" and "His will for us." As a non-Christian woman, I found myself becoming increasingly resistant to the patriarchal and religious undertones in many of the Steps I was instructed to follow in these programs. I also did not appreciate being encouraged to explore my "shortcomings" and "defects of character." I already felt enough shame as someone struggling with drug addiction, and I definitely needed something that would help me feel better, not worse, about myself. I knew there were others who felt the same way I did. Most had a different concept of their spirituality than traditional Christianity, many of them were women, some were people of other ethnic groups or sexual orientations. Whenever we tried to discuss our genuine concerns in the 12-Step groups we attended, the implicit and often explicit message we received was that there was something wrong with us if we could not feel positively about the Steps and follow them as prescribed. As a result, many of us hid our true feelings. We found ourselves becoming less authentic as we diligently attempted to work our program of recovery. This was not a healthy situation for addicts who wanted to change their behaviour patterns and get well. But, for a very long time, 12-Step programs were virtually the only "recovery" game in town, so we did what we were told.

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