The Glitch of 12-Step Rehab Program

The bug of the program lies mainly in three areas : medical, sensitivity, and self-esteem.

The 12-step program in rehabilitation and treatment to alcoholism (and even to other narcotic drugs) has lowly comes of age, from its conception in the late 1930’s. The program does not really address alcohol addiction per se but to everything in one’s psychological struggle beyond his or her control. In the context of time in the 1940’s, the absence of modern medical and psychological treatments to alcoholism may have prompt rehabilitation centers to embrace a non-direct address to chemical abuse. But modern breakthroughs in medicine lead to discoveries of anti-alcohol craving drugs like Naltrexone, Disulfiram, and Acomprosate.

In the counseling’s religious nature, if the dependent is not receptive to the doctrines it is more likely that they will reject the treatment. As a result, the patient would resort to hopelessness to get rid of the addiction. The problem is that, faithlessness and alcoholism are of two different problems, and perhaps, the latter could have been easier to address. The 12-step program has blatantly disregard any ethnical and principle history of the dependent and his family values.

Lastly, the 12-step program imposed a total self-denial to solve or heal things on its own. It does not recognize any power from self to deliberately counter the addiction. It prompts the alcohol dependents and abusers that the solution cannot come from within but from a third party principle adherence. Addiction is a mental matter and challenge. High self-esteem and positivism in combating alcohol addiction always plays a vital role from the initial phase up to the total recovery. Not acknowledging the power of one’s self to aid in the total self-control from alcohol craving would end up to hopelessness when 12-step program fails. As such, the existence of a non-12 step program alcoholism treatment really provides a wonderful alternative and gives hope to alcohol dependents and their families.