The philosophy of the 12-step treatment model is premised on the AA’s founding principles, which instructs its members to “surrender” their addiction to a higher power. Those in the 12-Step program should also come to the realization that they’re powerless in their ability to control the addiction to drugs/alcohol.

While all 12-Step programs have a unique list of steps, essentially, all groups promote the same values and philosophies.

The original 12 steps as established by Alcoholics Anonymous are:

• We admitted we were powerless over alcohol [our addiction]—that our lives had become unmanageable.
• Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
• Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
• Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
• Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
• They were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
• Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
• Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
• Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
• Continued to take a personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
• Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
• Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics [addicts] and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The philosophy behind the 12-Step treatment model is that those struggling with addiction can aid one another to not only achieve but maintain long-term abstinence from both the abuse of substances and reckless behaviors.  Recovering addicts can accomplish this through meetings which are hosted at Rehab South Florida.  During these 12-Step meetings, patients will have the opportunity to share experiences and life stories with other participants.  Furthermore, patients will be encouraged to support and encourage one another.  This is part of a larger, ongoing effort to help those involved in the meetings to achieve/maintain abstinence.

According to a recent publication from Addiction Research and Theory, abstinence practices (as promoted by 12-Step programs at Rehab South Florida) can cause rising levels of flourishing in recovering addicts.  Flourishing, or, stable/positive mental health, greatly increases the likelihood of individuals achieving sobriety (for the long-term).  According to the study, after three months of participating in a 12-Step program, 40.7% of patients flourished with almost 40% flourishing after 12 months.  The study has helped us to learn more about how the 12-Step program helps individuals to combat addiction.  Based on the study’s results, those who practice abstinence together will have improved mental health outcomes compared to those that don’t.

Rehab South Florida is committed to patient recovery and offers the 12-Step Program to help patients make adjustments to their life that will allow them to succeed dependency.  Research-based, residential programs that are customized to patient needs are important to successful recovery outcomes.  At our facility, all patient recovery plans are individually created based on the specific needs of the patient.  Through the 12-Step treatment model, and, our highly experienced clinical/treatment staff, patients are provided with a unique recovery experience where special care and evidence-based treatments are offered.