‘Cling to the thought that .. the dark past is the greatest possession you have – the key to life and happiness for others’
Alcoholics Anonymous, p124, 4th ed.
Perhaps one of the most important elements in the AA programme, the fact that someone’s experience of lived alcoholism has the potential to free another person from their illness – this is the uniqueness of AA.
Bill Wilson often made it clear that the AA 12 Step Programme was a blending of the principles of Religion, Psychology/Psychiatry and Medicine. What AA members bought to the table was this lived experience of active alcoholism that they were now recovering from.
In his story in the book, Dr Bob puts it like this ‘ he (Bill W) was the first human being with whom I had ever talked who knew what he was talking about in regard to alcoholism from actual experience – in other words, he talked my language’
Powerful Stuff
