
Every step of a 12 Step Program, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and other “anonymous” recovery groups, is extremely deliberate and comes with its own set of challenges. In Step 4, you are challenged emotionally with the prospect of confronting the fear and pain that comes with taking a moral inventory.
Often called the “confession” step, Step 5 “admit to a higher power (according to beliefs), to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrong.” Step 5 is where, in the recovery process, the Program turns from taking stock of the past to starting to build a new, healthier future, free from addiction.
Step 4 and Step 5 are connected in a deep way. In the 4th Step, you undergo the often painful process of confronting and documenting your wrongs internally. In the 5th Step, you sit down with one or more other people and confess everything you’ve documented to get all of it out in the open, allowing you to start fresh.
Here’s a breakdown to answer your AA Step 5 questions, and how working it can be crucial to your recovery.
What Does “Admitting Your Wrongs” Mean?
In order to understand the value of working Step 5, you have to understand Step 4. While it’s explained in more depth here, Step 4 revolves around the concept of Taking Moral Inventory. This means exploring your past, especially as it relates to your addiction, and uncovering the actions, inaction, and mistakes that sustained your addiction.
Addiction is often rooted in a person’s negative thinking, and the mistakes and failures in their lives contribute to a negative view of themselves. The theory behind Steps 4 and 5 of the 12-Step Process of Recovery is that a person cannot truly find lasting recovery without bringing all their mistakes, missteps and moral failures to the forefront of their own mind in Step 4, before sharing them in Step 5. The idea is that this sparks a sort of emotional catharsis, from which a person can start a new journey with a clean slate and nothing to hide.