One of the most common approaches to dealing with an addiction problem is with the use of a twelve step program. In the case of some addictions like alcohol these programs are widely used. For other addictions they tend to be less common. Certainly twelve step programs have helped a lot of people to overcome their addictions however there are also a lot of people how have tried them and found that they didn't work.

A twelve step program can be used to address all kinds of addiction problems, with varying degrees of success. Far and away the most common is for alcoholics but the twelve steps are used to treat any number of addictions. One of the reasons that twelve step programs are so widely used for alcoholics is that they have a good history of success. In the case of things like drug addiction however the program is often less successful. This is mainly because it doesn't address the physical symptoms that come with drug addiction.

Twelve step programs consist of not surprisingly twelve steps that people follow as part of their recovery plan. These steps basically take you from admitting that you have a problem to acknowledging that you are responsible for your shortcomings and then making amends for the things that you have done wrong. While many people have been successful with twelve step programs there are some issues that prevent a lot of people from achieving the same level of success. One of these is that there is a heavy religious aspect that doesn't appeal to everybody, if you don't believe in god it is unlikely that you are going to have success with a twelve step program.

Twelve step programs almost always come with some sort of support group to help with the recovery. One of the most common features of the programs is that new members will be assigned a sponsor to help them get through the process. The sponsor is more than somebody to guide them through the twelve steps; they are there to help them with the whole process of recovery. The sponsor is somebody that you can call anytime that you feel like you are having trouble maintaining your will power to quit.

There are lots of people who have found twelve step programs to be successful while at the same time there are many people who don't find that they work at all. One of the issues is that the programs work better for some addictions than they do for others. This can make it hard to tell if a twelve step program will work for a particular addiction, you can't assume that because it worked for one type of addiction that it will work for another. In general a twelve step program is most effective if it is combined with other types of treatment like counselling and medication.