The Ninth Step can Heal Wounds from Addiction
The ninth of the Twelve Steps is “[We] made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” When we make amends we are simply telling the person we harmed the truth about our actions as we now see it, having had our eyes and hearts opened by the sanity and sobriety that the previous eight of the twelve steps in the Twelve Step Program have brought into our lives.
The “Big Book” from Alcoholics Anonymous explains, “Reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any lengths to find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be given strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequences may be. We may lose our position or reputation or face jail, but we are willing. We have to be. We must not shrink at anything.”
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions explains further. “After we have made a list of people we have harmed, have reflected carefully upon each instance, and have tried to possess ourselves of the right attitude in which to proceed, we will see that the making of direct amends divides those we should approach into several classes. There will be those who ought to be dealt with just as soon as we become reasonably confident that we can maintain our sobriety. There will be those to whom we can make only partial restitution, lest complete disclosures do them or others more harm than good. There will be other cases where action ought to be deferred, and still others in which by the very nature of the situation we shall never be able to make direct personal contact at all.”
12Step.org puts it this way. “Step 9 completes what I started in step 8. I make amends to those that I have harmed. I pay back debts I owe. I apologize. I write letters. I find time to do and say things that would help heal the damage that I have done. I try to bring goodness where previously I had brought discord and destruction. I start to live the kind of life that my God has meant for me to live all along.”
The Twelve Step Program plays a large part in the recovery process at Transitions Recovery.
