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In 12-step groups, addicts must acknowledge the powerlessness, unmanageability, and denial that have impacted them. This is known as the “first step” in the 12 steps.
It’s vital for addicts to reach this point of desperation where they can no longer cling to the fantasy that they can will themselves out of their addictions on their own. In recognizing their “powerlessness,” they are, in essence, surrendering to their own will and stubbornness of self-determination. By saying they were powerless over their addiction, addicts are paradoxically taking ownership of their lives.
The power of admitting powerlessness for those with an addiction
You may wonder how this can be since the term “powerlessness” can sound like a rationalization for one’s behaviors. However, in the world of addiction therapy, this is an essential milestone because we know the individual has reached a point of brokenness where they are finally letting themselves and others know their past self was enslaved to a behavior or substance that they could not stop of their own accord. This very act of humility is a significant turning point in the change process.
Once addicts realize their past powerlessness, they also must discern that they have a choice in their actions moving forward. Ironically, the admitting of powerlessness permits addicts to now have a say in their future behaviors. They no longer have to give in to their drug of choice because the recovery process of having hit “rock bottom” creates new opportunities to grow in a community with other like-minded people.
To clarify what this looks like in therapy, when clients come out of denial and fully acknowledge their addiction, this is a heart change. With the heart change comes the receptivity to learn new skills and build new bonds and the willingness to risk emotionally. This means they can recognize emotional, relational, and physical triggers that prompt them to want to cope by giving in to their addictions. But they also learn they now have a choice to call a peer, journal, or meditate or pray about their situation in ways that were not available to them previously.
A true addict in recovery can acknowledge past powerlessness but will also share a renewed hope that gives them agency to do something different in similar situations that before would have prompted them to gravitate to their compulsive ways.
So, in short, addiction recovery is very much about having choice and agency in one’s behaviors and actions while simultaneously acknowledging that one’s past self (the one drowning in the addiction) had no “power” over it.