Working the Steps at SunHawk

While at SunHawk Adolescent Recovery Center, students will work through the first five steps. These steps offer a methodic process for gaining a foothold in recovery.

Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (our addiction) - that our lives had become unmanageable.

This step deals with the very mechanism all people use to maintain destructive views, thoughts, and behaviors: denial. We use denial to see what we want to see, thus allowing us to believe that change is not needed. As teens break through denial and admit powerlessness and unmanageability in their lives, they begin to recognize the need to accept help.

Step 2: We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

A spiritual connection is a key component to recovery. This connection is often confused with religion and therefore discounted or avoided. Step Two simplified is really about restoring hope by letting yourself be helped.

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

This step, again spiritually based, is about changing the way we make decisions by recognizing that our way has not worked and being open to the guidance of others. The process of surrendering what we want for what we need is the key to Step Three.

Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

In Step Four, recovering addicts and alcoholics are asked to overcome the guilt and shame that are tied to keeping secrets and take responsibility for who we are and what we have done.

Step 5: We admitted to a Higher Power, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

By sharing the "personal inventory" with someone and being accepted by them regardless of the things we have done, we create the opportunity to put some of the past unpleasant substance use experiences behind us and start working toward a brighter future.

Steps 6 through 12 are focused on the transitional work that occurs in community AA and NA meetings, and with sponsors, therapists, and the family. Because addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, recovery is an ongoing process that doesn't end with the successful completion of a treatment program.

By embracing the fundamental principles found in the 12 Steps, teens can learn to cope with the self-destructive thoughts, behaviors, and processes that led them down the path of substance abuse and proceed, one step at a time, to build the life they and their families had imagined.