The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
Core Pillars The document emphasizes three primary pillars of the program: Source Information: For more information, the document directs users to www.aa.org.
By Editorial Team | Editor Yamilla Francese
Clinically Reviewed by Lauren Barry, LMFT, MCAP, QS
Medically Reviewed by Ali Nikbakht, PsyD
Updated on March 16, 2026 — Editorial Policy | Research Policy | Privacy Policy
Clinically Reviewed by Lauren Barry, LMFT, MCAP, QS
Medically Reviewed by Ali Nikbakht, PsyD
Updated on March 16, 2026 — Editorial Policy | Research Policy | Privacy Policy
- Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over our alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Step 2: We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Step 3: We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Step 5: We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Step 6: We were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character.
- Step 7: We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Step 8: We made a list of all persons we have harmed, and became willing to make amends to them ALL.
- Step 9: We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Step 10: We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- Step 11: We 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.
- Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry the message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Core Pillars
The document emphasizes three primary pillars of the program:
- Unity
- Service
- Recovery
Source Information: For more information, the document directs users to www.aa.org.