Those who receive an amends see firsthand that people with use disorders can and do recover, becoming healthy, happy and productive community members. Making amends can also reduce stress, by addressing past wrongs may prevent future conflicts that could jeopardize sobriety. Stay tuned to SOBRLIFE for everything related to the journey of recovery and staying sober.
Ways to Make Amends in Recovery
Often, in our experience, when you get stuck in the amends process, it is due to getting inside your head, and imagining outcomes or otherwise succumbing to doubt. Our goal is to provide safe, community-based shelter that empowers women experiencing hardship to regain their dignity and freedom. Provides survivors of commercial sexual exploitation with a loving and nurturing environment that supports their journey to independence and freedom. Our work is supported by our Repurposed thrift store and is sustained by the efforts of over 150 faithful volunteers. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to living amends aa practice these principles in all our affairs.
Crafting Your Personalized AA Amends Script
- There are situations where making an amend might cause more harm than good.
- This script is your guide, providing a framework for acknowledging specific wrongdoings, articulating the harm caused, and outlining possible reparations or actions.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Whatever the situation, there are a few ways to get started in the process of repairing wrongs with the people you most care about.
- They may choose to make living amends by promising to change their ways and become more helpful to others.
- Individualized detox and residential care for addiction and co-occurring conditions using experiential healing activities like dolphin therapy on beautiful Kona.
Step 9, often seen as one of the most challenging, requires courage, humility, and guidance. More than an apology, it’s about making genuine amends—taking action to correct past mistakes without causing harm. Here, we explore Step 9, its goals, possible outcomes, and effective Alcoholics Anonymous language for making amends. Far from being a one-off activity, making amends should be a consistent commitment throughout the recovery process from a drug or drinking problem.
How Making Amends Benefits Your Recovery
Every week we offer more resources, support, and recovery-related updates. Our articles address questions, offer support, and are dedicated to shattering the stigma around addiction and recovery. More general quotes regarding the process can still be helpful, like, “I don’t want to just say I am sorry, I want to show in my actions I am truly making amends”.
Step 9 is All About Action
This process helped me feel lighter and motivated me to continue my journey towards sobriety. If making amends requires the recovering alcoholic to report a past crime, they must be willing to go to jail to complete this step on their road to a complete and limitless recovery. From the steps leading up to nine, recovering alcoholics begin to develop tools to handle stressful situations without liquor and believe in a Higher Power greater than themselves.
- Expressing genuine remorse and even regret for the pain caused is a key element.
- Some people on this list may be harder to approach, so readiness is key.
- If making an amends means exposing ourselves to triggering environments, we ought to reconsider and discuss healthy alternatives with a sponsor or addiction counselor.
- A qualified behavioral therapist can help you identify the areas of your life that need attention.
- This can be disheartening, but it’s important to practice patience and persistence, as making amends is often a gradual process.
When making amends it is important that you focus on your behaviors only and your amends. Of course, others in our lives had negative behaviors or unhealthy ways of responding to addiction but that has nothing to do with us making amends for our own behaviors. You will lessen the impact of your amends if you water it down with excuses and external blame. It is equally important that you genuinely stop and listen to the other person.