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Rehab 4 Alcoholism
211 Beaufort House,
94-98 Newhall Street,
Birmingham,
B3 1PB
All treatment providers we recommend are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) or Care Inspectorate.
At Rehab 4 Alcoholism, our founders have maintained their support for Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) for well over two decades. We feel AA provides a global lifesaving service that should never be overlooked by somebody affected by alcoholism in any way. It’s also worth mentioning that AA is completely free of charge.
The ethos of AA is that of one addict helping another. Former alcoholics offer support to each other in meeting commonly held recovery goals. Maintaining sobriety is not easy, and AA offers a unique role in helping ease this process both today and in the future.
AA was founded back in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith. The former suffered from alcoholism and was told he would die if he did not stop drinking alcohol. Today, AA holds many thousands of daily meetings across the globe.
To attend AA meetings, you must commit to the act of stopping drinking. You must also embrace sobriety. AA is thus about maintaining your recovery. If you are still drinking, then your needs will be better met by an alcohol rehab clinic.
AA is founded on the 12-step programme. This programme offers recipe-style instructions for sustaining sobriety. The 12-steps are supplemented by the 12-traditions. These traditions were designed to help prevent outside influences from distracting AA from its core mission.
Each person attending an AA meeting is a former alcoholic. For this reason, AA is classed as a mutual-aid fellowship.
AA’s founders modelled the principles set out by the Oxford Group. The Oxford Group was a Christian self-help group with many similarities to modern AA meeting. Wilson quit drinking alcohol in 1934 after an intense spiritual event in his life. Wilson then joined the Oxford Group in order to help others affected by alcoholism. However, Wilson’s mission in the early to mid-1930s was largely a failure and he only succeeding in maintaining his own sobriety.
Wilson himself came close to relapse during the 1930s. He came to the realisation that helping others was the only way for him to maintain his sobriety. Wilson also attributed his sobriety to his spiritual awakening back in 1934. Eventually, Wilson compiled a list of suggested activities to encourage spiritual growth in his 1938 book titled ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’. These activities are known as the ‘Twelve Steps’.
Today, there are 100,000 AA members. AA lacks a formal leadership circle. Instead, meetings are organised by ex-alcoholics who wish to assist others who are either fighting alcoholism or wishing to maintain their recovery.
Both the 12 Steps and the 12 Traditions are outlined in the Big Book. The Big Book is often described as AA’s bible. As well as outlining both the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions, the big book also includes spiritual and inspirational stories relating to recovery. AA updates the Big Book every few years to add new inspirational stories.
Below, we list each of the 12 Steps as laid out in the Big Book. The 12 Steps aim to assist you in recovering from alcoholism. The 12 Steps also aim to assist you in avoiding a relapse.
The 12 Steps of AA include:
The 12 Traditions of AA help to stabilise AA and prevent outside forces from distracting members from AA’s central message. The 12 Traditions also aim to give members the confidence that what they reveal in AA meetings will remain confidential.
Below, we list each of the 12 Traditions as laid out in the Big Book:
If you wish to know more about AA, then perhaps the best place to do so is by attending an AA meeting in person. If you would like to attend an alcohol rehab clinic before you attend AA, contact Rehab 4 Alcoholism today on 0800 111 4108 and we will be happy to advise you on rehab clinics in your local area.
We recommend that you read through the above questions and answers carefully. If you require further information, contact our advisors today and for free on 0800 111 4108. Alternatively, you may also contact us through this website and a member of our team will respond shortly.