I’ve found tremendous satisfaction and purpose in working with other addicts within a secular Twelve Step framework. We’re pioneers, in a sense, embarking into unknown territories together. At every turn, we’re met with a recovery challenge and ask ourselves “How do we interpret this particular Step or spiritual principle from a secular humanist perspective?” Books […]
On April 13, 2023, after a nine year absence from peer-supported recovery, I walked through the doors of a secular Twelve Step group and once again admitted I’m an alcoholic. I’d already been ‘dry’ for almost two years, but here’s the thing: not drinking (or using anything) is a necessary but insufficient condition for sobriety. […]
When the Twelve Steps were created in the 1930s, the founders didn’t know as much about the disease of alcoholism as we do today. But they understood how alcoholism feels and how it destroys lives. They also found a way to help people recover that has worked for almost 90 years. Back then, alcoholics experienced […]
Making amends is about owning-up for bad behaviour that hurt someone else. It’s about looking them right between the eyes and acknowledging “I did exactly this, and you bore the cost of my wrongdoing.” In the Secular Twelve Steps, making amends is Step Nine, the final stop along the journey of ‘cleaning-up the wreckage of […]
The Peace of Wild Things 