Is There a 12-Step Program for Methamphetamine Addiction?

Unlike addictions to substances such as heroin and painkillers, methamphetamine addiction cannot be treated using prescription medications. But 12-step programs such as that offered by Alcoholics Anonymous have been proven effective at connecting addicts with the support and therapy needed to overcome addiction.

If you or someone you love is suffering from meth abuse, understand that joining a 12-step program for methamphetamine addiction can turn your life around, or that of your loved one.

If you’re addicted to methamphetamine, call our 24/7 confidential helpline at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) to discuss your treatment options. Our experienced addiction counselors will connect you with drug rehab centers devoted to helping you overcome substance abuse.

The Benefits of 12-Step Programs for Addiction

Twelve-step programs allow addicts to attend regular meetings, or support groups, with other addicts in which they discuss and share their experiences with addiction.

The 12 steps for methamphetamine addiction recovery are based on the 12 steps of AA.

Throughout these programs, recovering addicts work through each of the 12 steps, which emphasize personal accountability and a spiritual connection with God or another higher being. These 12-step programs provide recovering addicts with access to sober and healthy peer support systems, and are available in nearly every city throughout the U.S.

During 12-step meetings, participants can bond with other recovering addicts who share similar struggles with addiction. These support groups are often held one or more times per week, and can be combined with other treatments that help individuals successfully overcome addiction and physical dependency on substances.

Most participants are paired with sponsors they can turn to for support throughout treatment and recovery, which can be especially helpful at times the risk for relapse is high.

Twelve-step programs can treat most types of substance abuse, including addiction to methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana. Twelve-step programs can also treat other types of addiction and compulsive behaviors, including addiction to food, gambling, and sex.

Twelve Steps for Methamphetamine Addiction

The 12-step program for methamphetamine addiction is based on the 12-step program originally created by Alcoholics Anonymous. Instead of focusing on abstinence and recovery from alcohol, participants focus on overcoming meth abuse.

The 12 steps for methamphetamine addiction are:

1. We admitted that we were powerless over methamphetamine and our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of a God of our understanding.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with a God of our understanding praying only for the knowledge of God’s will for us, and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to methamphetamine addicts, and to practice these principles in all of our affairs.

Popular 12 Step Programs Used in Drug Rehab

The first step in any 12-step program for methamphetamine addiction is admitting that you have a problem and need help. Twelve-step programs can be combined with counseling and therapy at drug rehab centers for the best sobriety outcome based on an individual’s unique treatment needs.

If you are struggling with methamphetamine addiction, understand you don’t have to overcome addiction on your own without help. Call our 24/7 confidential helpline at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) to discuss your treatment options, and to get help with finding a 12-step program for methamphetamine addiction.