Step 2

Step 2 begins the climb out of the darkness of despair for the addict. The sources for this step are endless and find their roots in the bible itself. By giving the addict a connection with the infinite, Step 2 establishes a foundation rooted in hope. A process of self nullification or at least the nullification of the addictive self occurs with Step 2, yet this step can only occur when the addict reaches out to a higher, infinite power.

“As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way. It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built,” reads a quote A.A. Big Book. This spiritual structure is the inner reflection of the addict waiting to be uncovered.

A crucial moment, step two also has some roots in the work of Carl Jung, who argued in short that a spiritual transformation was required to overcome an addiction, without which the addict faced insanity or death. In other words, step two requires a desire to make a change and a willingness to accept help from a source outside one’s self. The “power greater than ourselves” has been the subject of some controversy in large part because it is so vague.

Said Bill W, “It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning.”