If you have tried to stop using drugs or alcohol without success, you know how frustrating it can be. Quitting may not last long—many reasons can influence someone not to maintain sobriety—but that does not mean that sobriety is not an option for you. Instead, you must look for a different approach. For many people, the unwavering support of a 12-step-based treatment program is just what they need to stay on course. Promises Brazos Valley offers 12-step-based treatment to provide you with the help you have been missing. Call us at 979.426.0086 or complete our online form to learn more about our treatment options.
What Is a Moral Inventory?
If you are familiar with the traditional 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) program, you will recognize moral inventory as the fourth step. This step comes after admitting one’s powerlessness over addiction, believing in a higher power, and turning to that higher power for help to overcome addiction.
So what exactly is a moral inventory? It is a way of recognizing your past wrongs and moving forward. It helps you understand why you did those things and move beyond them rather than simply repeating the same behaviors that led to past mistakes.
How Are Moral Inventory and Recovery from Addiction Linked?
You may wonder what moral inventory and recovery from addiction have to do with one another. An exercise involving a moral inventory may force you to face some uncomfortable truths about how your addiction developed and hurt others. By recognizing your past wrongs, identifying your values and strengths, and noting areas that need improvement, you can start to move forward from addiction.
How Do You Engage in a Moral Inventory?
You can verbally make a moral inventory by discussing past wrongs, but this process is often completed in writing. You can create a moral inventory by following these steps:
- Write a list of all the wrongs you have done while addicted – This includes any kind of wrongdoing, regardless of whether it was intentional or unintentional. This may feel like an impossible task because there can be so many things that you wish you had not done, especially if you have been struggling with addiction for a long time. However, once you get started and begin writing down all your past misdeeds, it will become much easier for you to keep going until everything has been written down.
- For each situation, write down who may have been negatively impacted. – This can be friends, family members, coworkers, or even strangers who were affected.
- Read through your list and notice any patterns in your wrongdoings – For example, have you lied to people often or neglected others, such as your partner or children? Have you threatened your family’s financial security by losing your job or spending lots of money on drugs or alcohol? Or have you harmed yourself by ignoring your physical and mental health?
The goal of making a moral inventory is not to beat yourself up over wrongdoings but to notice patterns so you can focus on improving them. Living in denial and brushing your flaws under the rug is not supportive of recovery. Only by facing them and making changes will you be able to heal and repair your relationships with yourself and others.
Find 12-Step-Based Treatment for Adduction in Texas at Promises Brazos Valley
Support makes all the difference in a lasting recovery. If you are ready to try something new to overcome addiction, consider Promises Brazos Valley’s 12-step-based treatment program. Contact Promises Brazos Valley today at 979.426.0086 to speak with someone from our caring and compassionate team of professionals and finally achieve the healthy recovery you deserve.