I have never had to go through the agony and struggle of a 12 step recovery program, but I have seen first hand what it is like, and have marveled at the strength of someone close to me to overcome addiction. You see, my brother had to go through a 12 step program. He started off the way the rest of us did – binge drinking on the weekends in college, partying, and having a good time. When you are young, this is simply enjoying life, and most of us move beyond it eventually and never look back. Unfortunately, my brother was not so lucky. Before his 12 step program, his life fell into a shambles and he hit bottom.
The only way for us to get him to join a 12 step program was to all confront him together. In the speech of recovering alcoholics, this is called an intervention, and if you know someone who is battling an addiction, and needs the help of a 12 step program, it can be one of the most important things that you can do for him or her. Doing an intervention might feel like ganging up to the target of the intervention, but it is always done out of love. Even if they decline to go into a 12 step program, and even if, as was the case with my brother, they respond to the intervention by lashing out, chances are that they will eventually come around and realize that you saved their life. Once they recover from their addiction, they will probably even thank you for what you did. But the praise is not what is important. The real reward is the full recovery of your friend or loved one.
There are many different 12 step programs. My brother tried a Christian 12 step program that was highly recommended, but it conflicted with his atheism, so he had to go. It is not just a matter of enrolling in a 12 step program and letting them fix you. If there is not the right bond between you and the other people in your 12 step recovery program, you simply will not recover, and will slip back into addiction again. It helps to bring someone with you to help you along when you are first starting the 12 step program. I went with my brother to almost every meeting, and when I could not, our sister went along.
The 12 Step Program as defined in WikipediA