At Puente House, our residents learn that long term recovery is about finding new tools and practicing them in daily life. It would be easy to promote the idea that this is a simple process, but it wouldn’t be honest. The path we share with the men and women who live in Puente House is based on the 12 Steps, successfully used in recovery programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous for the better part of a century. Hundreds of thousands of once hopeless men and women around the world have stayed sober and gone on to embrace life with power, responsibility and courage.
We know there is still a great deal of mystery surrounding the 12 steps and their influence on recovery. From our primary text, The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous:
Alcoholics Anonymous® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.
That’s it. There’s no mystery, no hidden fees, no membership requirements. It works—point blank, and it saves lives.
You cannot sell recovery. Recovery, through the 12 steps, is and must always remain, completely free. But you can create a safe space for recovery to take hold. You can weed the soil, rid it of rock and sand, amend it with rich nutrients, feed it so that new roots can begin to take hold. That’s what we do here every day, and there isn’t an alcoholic or addict on the planet who would stay sober if things didn’t get better. What may seem impossible to you now has become a joyful reality for many, and it can be your future too.
