12 Step Recovery: A brief history

The Twelve Steps were originally formulated by Bill W., a co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), in 1938. They grew out of the principles then espoused by the Oxford Groups (a religious fellowship which sponsored early A.A. in Akron, Ohio), tempered by the practical experiences which were a common denominator of recovery from alcoholism among A.A. members at that time. These steps were first published in Alcoholics Anonymous (1939) and received a more detailed treatment in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (1953), both of which were written by Bill W.

The Twelve Steps, as originally set forth in Alcoholics Anonymous, do provide a comprehensive and thorough approach to the problem of dealing with addiction, including sex and love addiction. If you are thinking as you visit this website that S.L.A.A. may be a fellowship worth serious consideration for your own problems, we recommend that you also read the books mentioned above. In spite of their occasionally somewhat dated ideas and language, we have found these books to be surprisingly appropriate and useful to us in applying the Twelve Steps to sex and love addiction.

S.L.A.A.’s primary concern is that the suffering sex and love addict may find the way, through the Twelve Step program, to turn from the self-destruction of this disease, and lay the foundation for spiritual and emotional recovery.

Excerpted from © 1993 S.L.A.A. Basic Text, pages 66 and 67