Addiction Medicine Certificate Course by Muktaa Charitable Foundation Course Material by Dr Narayan Perumal Lecture conducted at Aga Khan Palace More material on Fullnasha.com

1. Twelve Step Program
Dr. Narayan Perumal
MBBS, PGDCR, MPH
Dr. Mahajan Clinic Olito Clinic CLEAN ROOM

2.  Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) or Narcotic Anonymous
(NA) is a group of individuals who get together at a
particular time in an venue and share their
experiences about quitting their addictions.
 The Anonymous programs are a spiritual program
founded in 1935 founded by Bill Willson and Bob
Smith. It started with Alcoholic Anonymous and was
later extended to Narcotic Anonymous, Cocaine
Anonymous, Marijuana Anonymous etc.
Alcoholic Anonymous/
Narcotic Anonymous

3. ALCHOLIC ANONYMOUS = AA
These gatherings are called
‘Meetings’. Individuals attending
the meetings range from
‘suffering addicts’ who are trying
to quit to ‘recovering addicts’ who
have quit even for a decade.

4. NARCOTIC ANONYMOUS = NA
Commonly in large cities, there are
several groups operating on
different time slots, all days at
different locations in the city.
This helps an addict go to any
meeting on any day he chooses
according to his convenience.
The group that he regularly attends
is called ‘mother group’. The
meetings are usually two hours long.
Tea or refreshment is provided out
of a “kitty box” where the addicts
contribute money.

5.  “God, Grant me the Serenity,
 to accept the things I cannot change,
 to change the things I can.
 And the wisdom to know the difference”
Serenity Prayer

6.  AA or NA is called Anonymous because the individual
must not tell his last name which might reveal his
identity.
 They are governed by twelve traditions and the
program is run under twelve steps.
AA / NA

7.  The Program theorizes in its literature that there are
“moral bankruptcies” which addiction brings in such as
lying, stealing and cheating.
 The real recovery does not begin until the addict recovers
from them.
 Mere abstinence is not enough to for the real recovery of
an addict.
 The program conceptualizes that real recovery is when a
person “recovers” or gains back all the things he has lost
including himself in his addiction.
The Program

8.  The Twelve step programs has the following strong beliefs:
 An addict will continue to be an addict all his life.
 An addict who continues his addiction has only three ends - Jail, mental
institutions or death.
 Addiction is not limited to substances, thus he must correct his behaviors that
led him to the substance.
 An addict must maintain complete abstinence if he must real clean or sober from
his substance
 Addiction is a cunning, baffling and powerful disease which can overcome an
addict at any point in time, thus he must constantly mindful of his actions.
 Open mindedness is a prerequisite for finding hope towards recovery
 The program is a selfish program where an addict must only concern himself
about his recovery. It does not encourage recovering for the sake of materialistic
goals such as career or relations.
Twelve Steps

9.  We admitted that we were powerless over our
addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
Step 1

10.  We came to believe that a Power greater than
ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Step 2

11.  We made a decision to turn our will and our lives
over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Step 3

12.  We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of
ourselves.
Step 4

13.  We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another
human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step 5

14.  We were entirely ready to have God remove all these
defects of character.
Step 6

15.  We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Step 7

16.  We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and
became willing to make amends to them all.
Step 8

17.  We made direct amends to such people wherever
possible, except when to do so would injure them or
others.
Step 9

18.  We continued to take personal inventory and when
we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Step 10

19.  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 11

20.  Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these
steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and
to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Step 12

21.  Details of Narcotic Anonymous meeting groups can
be found at http://naindia.in/
 Details of Alcoholic Anonymous meeting groups can
be found at http://www.aagsoindia.org/
 Compiled by Dr.Narayan Perumal
 For comments/corrections write to
drnarayanperumal@gmail.com or
http://drnay.in or contact 9967536664
Thank You