Addiction Recovery: 12-Step Programs and Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology

This article provides the helping professional with an overview of treatment issues referred to as spiritual by those recovering from alcohol and drug addictions through 12-step programs like that of Alcoholics Anonymous. Conflicts between academically trained helping professionals and researchers, and those advocating spiritually oriented treatment programs are reviewed. Spiritual aspects of recovery may be foreign constructs for the academically trained helping professional. The goal of this article is to discuss these spiritual constructs in terms of cognitive-behavioral psychology, a knowledge base common to most professionally trained helpers.