In the 1st step of the Recovery Program, members admit
their powerlessness over gambling and learn to accept the truth about
compulsive gambling - - that it is an incurable progressive illness which
only can be arrested through total abstinence from gambling. Members
acknowledge that they were powerless to control their lives when gambling
dominated their actions. Through this admission, members gain the inner
strength to deal with their problems and face responsibilities.
In Step 1, compulsive gamblers are asked to accept the fact that their lives
had become unmanageable. Members acknowledge that the gambling illness
disrupted their financial stability and many other aspects of their lives,
including family, work and other personal relationships. The admission and
acceptance that come with Step 1 are pre-requisite to controlling the
destructive behavior caused by compulsive gambling.
The 1st step of the Recovery Program is just as important to someone who has
abstained for a considerable period of time as it is to a newcomer. By
regularly reviewing Step 1, members are reminded of the past so that they
will not repeat it.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to a
normal way of thinking and living.
Recognizing the nature of the compulsive gambling illness,
members realize that alone they are powerless to establish a normal way of
thinking and living. Therefore, compulsive gamblers understand that they
need help from a power greater than themselves. In Step 2, members are asked
to believe in a Higher Power, which is a source of strength external to
oneself and greater than one's self-will and self-determination. The Higher
Power can be anything a member wants it to be, such as God or the
psychological and emotional support from the Fellowship or the group. This
step does not ask for belief in any organized religion but, more simply, a
commitment to personal spirituality. Belief in a Higher Power enables the
compulsive gambler to realize that a better way of thinking and living is
possible than that offered by gambling.
3. Made a decision to turn out will and out lives over to the care of this Power
of our own understanding.
Once members commit their lives to the care of a Higher
Power, a great burden is lifted from their shoulders. Free from the
limitations of ego, members try to live by the ideals of the power greater
than themselves. Faith alone does not lead to a normal way of living, but
faith coupled with the positive decision to commit oneself to the care of a
Higher Power leads the members toward recovery.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral and financial inventory of ourselves.
In order to attain a more meaningful life, the compulsive
gambler must undergo a complete and thorough self-appraisal. Acceptance of
one's shortcomings is a pre-requisite to correcting them. Members strive to
find the truth about themselves, for in the truth is freedom to choose the
many alternatives and opportunities that life presents.
In order to make a complete moral inventory, members must examine, to the
best of their ability, all aspects of their character. All negative
characteristics should be examined, such as:
* selfishness
* greed
* procrastination
* anger
* envy
* pride
* laziness
* resentment
* self-pity
* jealousy
* insincerity
* self-deception
* impatience
* intolerance
* pessimism
* dishonesty
Equally important, however, is the acknowledgement of all one's positive
characteristics, such as:
* friendliness
* optimism
* empathy
* industriousness
* humility
* kindness
* dignity
* tolerance
* honesty
Members are urged to make a written inventory; nothing should be withheld.
In Gamblers Anonymous, the financial inventory is as important as the moral
inventory. members make a list of all monies owed as a result of gambling
activities, such as loans, bad checks, thefts and other debts. In addition,
they itemize their financial assets and income.
The moral and financial inventories are as important to established members
as they are to newcomers. By making these inventories an ongoing process,
members continually assess their character. In this way, new defects can be
recognized and growth can be measured. Because money is an integral part of
gambling, the compulsive gambler must use the financial inventory, together
with the moral inventory, to begin a true character change.
5. Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our
wrongs.
In Step 5, the member is truthful not only to himself, but
to someone else, either on an individual or group basis. By revealing to
another person the full extent of one's shortcomings, one gains an
objectivity and perspective not otherwise available.
After making a thorough moral and financial inventory, it is imperative that
the compulsive gambler share the findings with someone else. The admission
of wrong-doing brings immense relief. Keeping the facts of the moral
inventory locked inside oneself imposes a burden heavier than any person can
bear. By sharing, pressure and anxiety are released.
6. Were entirely ready to have these defects of character removed.
In this step, members are asked only that they be ready
and willing to have their character defects removed. This is a step of
preparation in that it does not ask them to remove their character defects
but simply to open their hearts and minds and to be ready for change.
Members are often reluctant to make necessary changes in their personality
because of the security they experience from deeply ingrained character
traits. In this step, the member is encouraged to be open to shedding his or
her character defects, and to have faith that a new and better self will
emerge.
7. Humbly asked God (of our understanding) to remove our shortcomings.
In the same way that members of Gamblers Anonymous
understand that they are powerless to control their gambling problem, they
also realize that by themselves, they are powerless to remove their defects
of character. Once members are willing to have their character defects
removed, the next logical step is to seek help.
Just as members come to accept a Higher Power, it follows that only that
power can remove their shortcomings. Casting aside the pride that let them
to believe that they could live exclusively by their own intellect, strength
and will power, members come to learn true humility.
Humility before one's God means not only modesty, but complete lack of
wrongful pride in oneself. Members candidly admit all frailties, holding
back nothing. Strength lies in the belief that it is possible to change our
character with the help of the God of our own understanding.
Rather than an overnight remedy, the action of this step is an ongoing
process of striving. Working toward change is most important. Members
continue to let go of the old ways and allow the God of their understanding
guide them toward peace and serenity.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to
them all.
Most compulsive gamblers are aware that they have
financially damaged many people, but they are seldom aware of all the
emotional harm they have caused. The extent of emotional and financial
injury they have caused is made evident only by writing a complete list of
those they have hurt. The success of Step 8 is in the individual's
willingness to make amends to everyone on the list.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so
would injure them or others.
In this step, the member is asked to carry out the
intention of the preceding step to the best of his or her ability. By making
amends, members free themselves of the burden of wrongdoings. In this way
the negative behavior of the past is transformed into the potential for
acting positively in the future.
There are different ways of making amends. Some may be financial while other
may be of a more complex and personal nature. Similarly, some amends may be
made immediately, while others may take a number of years. There are also
cases where no amends can be made because to do so would be harmful to
another person. Sometimes amends cannot be made because of the inability to
communicate with the aggrieved person. Where amends cannot be made directly,
an alternate method of restitution maybe called for, such as an act of
kindness or service to Gamblers Anonymous.
Common sense, the knowledge of when to act, and courage are essential for
the successful execution of Step 9. In any case, amends should be forthright
and honest, no matter what the conditions surrounding them. A member should
not avoid making amends by rationalizing that an amend will injure someone
else if that decision is made to spare his or her own feelings.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly
admitted it.
Personal inventory is a continuing process of
self-evaluation, encouraging the individual to make self-searching a habit,
thereby increasing self-awareness. This personal inventory is a repeated
assessment of one's attitudes and actions towards others as well as towards
oneself. This should not be limited to an analysis of negative aspects of
character but should include an appreciation of positive traits as well.
Step 10 calls for members to continuously evaluate themselves for
wrongdoings that they commit. Once recognized, member find it beneficial to
promptly admit to these wrongdoings. The timely acknowledgement of the
wrongs that a member has committed leads to a catharsis of the anxiety,
depression and sense of loneliness experienced prior to recognizing the
wrongdoing.
In this step, members are enabled to make choices, find solutions to
problems that arise, keep things in perspective, develop self-restraint,
accept what they don't have and take responsibility for their own actions.
Practicing the 10th step of the Recovery Program helps change behavior
patterns, discourages harboring negative emotions and encourages the
development of self-esteem and other positive emotions. The ongoing process
of self-appraisal promotes emotional health and maturation.
11. 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.
Continuing contact with one's God, achieved through prayer
and meditation, enables the member to grow personally and spiritually. One's
God need not be a deity, therefore this step benefits not only those who
believe in God, but also those who are agnostic or atheistic. The Gamblers
Anonymous program is based on personal spirituality, and as such, give
members the freedom to choose by what means they contact the God of their
own understanding. Whether by formal prayer or meditation, members are
encouraged to make daily contact with their God. Through this continuing
contact, members become more receptive to the potential experience of God's
will for them and the strength to live accordingly.
12. Having made and effort to practice these principles in all our affairs, we
tried to carry this message to other compulsive gamblers.
The 12th step is the culmination of the entire Recovery
Program. The success of this step is determined by the effort of the members
to practice these principles in their lives and in their efforts to convey
to other compulsive gamblers that they can stop gambling through the
practice of the Gamblers Anonymous program and thereby achieve self-respect,
personal and spiritual growth. The emphasis here is not on the results, but
on the effort a member makes.
The 12-Step Program is fundamentally based on ancient spiritual principles and
rooted in sound medical therapy. The best recommendation for the program is the
fact that "it works."
Gamblers Anonymous would like to indicate that we are not soliciting members.
Our intention is to highlight that gambling for certain individuals is an
illness called "compulsive gambling." Gamblers Anonymous provides the message
that there is an alternative to the destruction of compulsive gambling and this
alternative is the Gamblers Anonymous program.
Our ranks are filled with members who have recovered from the illness by
stopping gambling and attaining a normal way of life. These members remain ready
to help any individual who passes through the Gamblers Anonymous door.