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We have links to meeting registries for either a face-to-face meeting or an online meeting.

See our Newcomer's Guide for working the 12 steps.

The 12 Step worksheets can be found with other tools for recovery in the Tools area under the Worksheets section.

First of all, it is good to be as honest as you can with yourself. Then read some comments or listen to some audio about step 1 from different sources to see if you can identify with any of these comments.

12 Step programs have been created for a very wide gamut of addictive and dysfunctional behaviors. To determine which one is right for you, you can try an honest self-assessment, or just begin going to some meetings to see which one seems to fit. However, accessibility of face-to-face meetings may be limited for some types of addiction in many areas. So sometimes you have a choice between going to a face-to-face meeting where the addiction may not match yours exactly, or going online to see if you can find a better match for your type and level of addiction and use online materials and online meetings, or a combination of both.

For face-to-face meetings, there are several websites with meeting registries. There are also websites for online meetings and you can use our directory of recovery websites for more materials. The Recovery Groups area may be useful, especially those sites set up for Social Networking for Recovery.

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Tools PDF Print E-mail

Tools for Working a 12 Step Program

A standard phrase of 12 step groups is "It works if you work it". This brings up the question "How do you work it?". Part of the answer to working the steps usually involves writing things down, dealing with thoughts and reflections about beliefs, past behavior and past events. The tools presented in this section are designed to make it easier to complete those parts of the steps that involve individual reflection, thinking and cataloging of past behaviors and events.

These self-reflection tools will not replace the need for accountability, fellowship and encouragement that is only found in a group or community setting. Also, these tools will not do the work for you. They are only tools that make the steps a bit more structured and organized and, thus, hopefully easier and perhaps quicker to work through. We appreciate any feedback concerning these tools - how to make them more relevant, easier to use or more widely distributed.

Step Worksheets and Workbooks

Worksheets are a great way to work through some of the steps. We have links to worksheets from various sources available.

  • Worksheets from 12Step.org - We have put together these worksheets for your use. Note that these are not professional, but are presented in the hopes that it will make it easier to work the steps.
  • Worksheets from Other Sources - These step worksheets have been picked up from other sources.
  • 12 Step Workbooks - These are links to workbooks compiled by Jim W. from 12stepworkbook.org.
  • Proactive 12 Steps Workbook - This is a link to a free 12 Step Workbook in PDF format from Serge Prengel in NYC, a coach for proactive change. This is Serge's perspective of how the 12 steps work to help us "get a life".

Recovery Journal

RecoveryJournal is free personal journal software for the Windows desktop (only tested for Windows XP - doesn't seem to work for Windows Vista yet). You can keep a personal journal and also use the built in questions for working the 12 step program.

NEW - Also, we have an alpha version for the Mac platform.


Prompts for LifeJournal

LifeJournal is a robust commercial software package for desktop journaling under the Windows platform. We have put together a list of prompts for LifeJournal that reflect the questions in the 12Step.org worksheets.


eSword Commentaries

eSword is a free software package for Bible study on the Windows platform. You can download commentaries here that are one person's opinion of how the 12 steps might correlate with the scriptures of the Bible.