Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) is a worldwide, million-member organization that has assisted countless alcoholics to achieve sobriety through a spiritual program of recovery from alcoholism. Based on spiritual principles known as the “Twelve Steps” and “Twelve Traditions,” AA has provided a model for other recovery programs such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Gamblers Anonymous (GA), and Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA). Recovery in AA appears to involve a process of self-transcendence. In recent years, nursing scholars have increasingly explored the concepts of self-transcendence and spirituality as they apply to nursing theory and practice. This article explores the roots and spiritual dimensions of 12-step recovery programs. It further explores the ways in which theoretical and clinical knowledge about the delivery of spiritual care interventions may be gained from an understanding of AA’s spiritual approach to recovery.
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