Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

This is a good place to go for more information when you're working the steps. All of the information necessary to work the steps is in the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous), but you may find some helpful ideas and things to discuss here. Finally, the Traditions didn't exist when the Big Book was written, so a good discussion of each one is available here. A lot of the stories you hear old timers tell ("Rule 62") are from the traditions section of this book.

This book, called the 12 & 12 around here, is the best available source for studying the Steps in more detail. Of course, the Big Book ("Alcoholics Anonymous") is the place to start and it contains the program of action required to attain and maintain sobriety. What I have found to be an effective way to work the Steps is to use the 12 & 12 as a reference as I go along, with the Big Book as my primary text, and discussing all of this with a sponsor (an alcoholic who has made some progress working the Steps who shares his/her experience, strength, and hope with a newcomer on an ongoing basis). Some have found it possible to get sober using just the book(s) and/or meetings, but my observation is that most of these people end up working the Steps in a confused way, or worse, don't really work them at all. Sobriety is about a new way of life free of alcohol, and this life is meant to be happy, joyous and free, not merely "dry" and miserable. The best way to achieve this is to get a sponsor and make use of that sponsor, which will likely involve reading these books and considerable other action as well. See you at a meeting!

Before I got to AA I did not know how to live life sober. I could not function without drinking. Alcohol was my life. Alcohol destroyed me and left me with nothing. By the grace of God I was put into the rooms of AA. In the rooms I found a sponsor who bought me a Big Book and a 12x12. The program in the 12x12 saved my life. It taught me a way of life which I had never dreamed possible. By reading this book and attending meetings, working with other alcoholics--I am able to live life sober. I am truly happy, joys and free. I owe it all to my higher power, the program and people in AA. Thank you AA. -Greatful Recovering Alcoholic San Diego, CA

This book is one of the primary texts for recovery. The other is the AA big Book.

Also, if you are serious about recovery and wish to improve your conscious contact with God you simply must read the book An Encounter With A Prophet by C. A. Lewis.

One way to confront a problem with alcohol is to get to an Alcholics Anonymous meeting, get a sponsor, work through the "Big Book" & read this book, probably in that order.
The "12 & 12" offers insight into the 12 Steps beyond that found in the Big Book. It's thought-provoking & helpful for anyone in recovery.
At heart, some may come to realize that they're confronting as much a living problem as an alcohol problem & that the Steps (11 of which do not mention booze) offer a better way of life.
AA is not the only way to recover, but it has proven effective for millions around the world facing a problem with a high relapse rate & lousy prognosis. Anyone who's reached their wit's end with alcohol will find help in AA. The program has no religious requirement, & its members do not tell anyone what to believe. They only suggest a person be willing to believe in a power greater than themself, a god of their understanding. For all anyone cares, this could be a pet dog, as long as it's something to remove the notion that the person is at the center of the universe.
AA has been successful for decades, it is the model for all other 12 Step programs & it is the foundation of much recovery. The program helps members who follow the 12 Steps to restore their self-worth through practicing integrity. It encourages members to let go of self-pity about perceived wrongs done them, accept responsibility for their own lives, acknowledge their pasts & ( & this is key) move on. Above all, it encourages living in the present rather than in the past or the future ... thus increasing the odds that one will actually live.
This book is one outstanding part of an arsenal available to alcoholics who want to see their disease go into remission. For anyone who finds the program not to their taste, a return to drinking is always an option.