Nine Steps to Recovery

12 Steps modified by Katherine van Wormer

1. We acknowledge we had lost control over (the source of the addiction)- -

that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to
wholeness.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of a Higher
Power as we understood him, her, or it.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, our
relationships, and our manner of living.
5. Acknowledged to the Higher Power, to ourselves, and to another human being
the exact nature of our addiction.
6. Made a list of all persons whose suffering was connected to our own.
7. Made every effort to restore, physically and spiritually, to ourselves and
others, those things that were lost.
8. Sought through prayer and/or meditation to enrich our sense of
connectedness to nature and to one another.
9. Having had a personal and spiritual awakening as the result of these steps,
we tried to carry this message to others in need and to practice these principles
in all our affairs.

Modified from the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous for compatibility with the
strengths perspective by Katherine van Wormer (2001) from Counseling Female
Offenders and Victims, Springer Publishing Co.