The 12 Signs of Recovery in SLAA

Many of us who were already on a 12 Step Jounrey in other fellowships, saw in this list a painful reminder of the many areas where we felt we wanted to see much more powerful progress.

Because we still had no healthy control over our romantic and sex life, we could not find true inner peace or emotional stability. 

The 12 Signs of Recovery helped us to understand exactly what was missing, they are also a great way to assess our ongoing progress, and a constant reminder of what is in store for us as we work  through the 12 Steps in SLAA.

The 12 Signs of Recovery are a clear beacon, showing us that that although our acting out (or acting in) compromised our serenity in the past, we can experience change whenevr we are ready to begin working the 12 Steps.

 

  1. We seek to develop a daily relationship with a Higher Power, knowing that we are not alone in our efforts to heal ourselves from our addiction.

  2. We are willing to be vulnerable because the capacity to trust has been restored to us by our faith in a Higher Power.
  3. We surrender, one day at a time, our whole life strategy of, and our obsession with the pursuit of romantic and sexual intrigue and emotional dependency.

  4. We learn to avoid situations that may put us at risk physically, morally, psychologically or spiritually.

  5. We learn to accept and love ourselves, to take responsibility for our own lives, and to take care of our own needs before involving ourselves with others.

  6. We become willing to ask for help, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and learning to trust and accept others.

  7. We allow ourselves to work through the pain of our low self-esteem and our fears of abandonment and responsibility. We learn to feel comfortable in solitude.

  8. We begin to accept our imperfections and mistakes as part of being human, healing our shame and perfectionism while working on our character defects.

  9. We begin to substitute honesty for self-destructive ways of expressing emotions and feelings.

  10. We become honest in expressing who we are, developing true intimacy in our relationships with ourselves and others.

  11. We learn to value sex as a by-product of sharing, commitment, trust and cooperation in a partnership.

  12. We are restored to sanity, on a daily basis, by participating in the process of recovery.