Step 1

Welcome to the 1st step of the 12 step program. North Palm Beach Recovery Center interprets the first step as a stage of acceptance over our addiction. Common terms that are associated with Step 1 of the 12 steps are "powerless" and "unmanageable". This step stems from the belief that addiction is a chronic disease that, for many, requires external help.

Addiction is not viewed in the twelve steps as a behavior controlled by willpower, but one controlled by a core medical problem that needs to be resolved. Once this is understood, a member can proceed with the recovery that they are seeking.

1. Have you seriously damaged your relationships with other people because of your addictive behaviors? If so, list the relationships and how you damaged them.
2. Describe any memory lapses where you cannot account for where
3. you were and times that you cannot recall how you got home.
4. Describe times and ways that you have significantly neglected or damaged relationships with your loved ones in order to indulge in your addictive behaviors or because you were recovering from your addictive behaviors.
5. If your addictive behavior contributed to excessive spending, describe the situations and why you did it.
6. Describe times that you have withdrawn from social interaction and isolated yourself to an extreme degree and why.
7. Describe attempts that you have made in the past to control your addictive behaviors. How successful have they been?
8. Describe any irrational or crazy set of events that have happened since you began you addictive behavior. Did you rationalize this behavior? If so, in what way?
9. Can you pinpoint one time period in your life when your life began to become extremely unmanageable? If so, describe that period of time and what was happening.
10. Is there one incident or insight that made you realize that your life was unmanageable? If so, describe it in detail.