12-step work~25 min12-stepRecovery research
Step 12: carrying it forward
Look at how the steps have changed you, shape your story to share, and plan how you'll pass it on — and live by these principles everywhere.
Helping others is linked to staying sober: in Project MATCH, about 40% of people who helped other alcoholics avoided drinking in the year after treatment, compared with 22% of those who didn't (Pagano and colleagues, 2004). Step 12 brings it together — noticing how you've changed, sharing your experience, and living by these principles everywhere.
When you share your story, protect other people's anonymity — and your own, as much as you want to.
How I've changed
1. How I think, feel and act differently than when I started Step 1
2. What other people have noticed
3. Principles that feel most alive in me now
Check any that apply
My story, in three parts
Most recovery stories follow this shape. Keep it honest and simple.
4. Where I was
5. What changed — what turned things around
6. Where I am now
Passing it on
7. Who I could help — someone who's where I was
8. Ways I'll pass it on
Check any that apply
9. Where I most need to live by these principles — at home, at work, with family
10. How I'll keep my own recovery first while I help others