{"id":18886,"date":"2015-03-21T10:49:49","date_gmt":"2015-03-21T16:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=18886"},"modified":"2015-03-21T11:28:25","modified_gmt":"2015-03-21T17:28:25","slug":"are-12-step-programs-effective-tools-for-fighting-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/03\/are-12-step-programs-effective-tools-for-fighting-addiction.html","title":{"rendered":"Are 12-Step programs effective tools for fighting addiction?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Grouse<\/a>
Irrelevant but still beautiful: A view of the city of Vancouver taken from atop nearby Grouse Mountain
Alas, though, it\u2019s been raining the whole time we\u2019ve been here.
(Click to enlarge.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The most famous twelve-step\u00a0program, of course, is that of Alcoholics Anonymous.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some of my readers will be aware of the fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> has adopted a modified form of such a twelve-step program for combating all sorts of addictions.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When I was a bishop, I made some use of it and was quite impressed with its potential. \u00a0In fact, since I believe that all<\/em> of us suffer from addictions of one sort or another \u2014 not merely to drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, or pornography, but to less dramatic things that we still repeat even though we know that they\u2019re self-defeating (such as staying up too late, oversleeping, procrastinating, overeating, spending too much time online or in front of the television, gossiping, quarreling with people with whom we\u2019ve vowed not to quarrel, etc., etc.) \u2014 it occurred to me that virtually everybody<\/em> could profit from regular\u00a0use of the Church\u2019s generalized twelve-step program or something like it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

An article in the current issue of The Atlantic<\/em> criticizes such programs, though, as ineffective.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a brief item, however, arguing that the Atlantic<\/em> author has done her readers a real disservice and that she hasn\u2019t accurately represented the actual science:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/nymag.com\/scienceofus\/2015\/03\/why-alcoholics-anonymous-works.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Langley, British Columbia<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 The most famous twelve-step\u00a0program, of course, is that of Alcoholics Anonymous. \u00a0 Some of my readers will be aware of the fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has adopted a modified form of such a twelve-step program for combating all sorts of addictions. \u00a0 When I was a bishop, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAre 12-Step programs effective tools for fighting addiction?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    The most famous twelve-step\u00a0program, of course, is that of Alcoholics Anonymous.   Some of my readers will be aware of the fact that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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