San Diego Sober Living - Recovery

The Role of Accountability in Addiction Recovery: A Step-by-Step Guide

Accountability, the rational process of assuming responsibility for actions and behaviors, is everything in addiction recovery. It’s implied in the first step in the Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship. It can’t be skipped, and it becomes a cornerstone, meaning the recovery structure could crumble if accountability is eroded or taken away. When compared to other life situations, accountability looks and feels different in addiction recovery.

Painful Initial Accountability

According to 164 and More, a reference e-book that compiles AA literature, the term “painful” appears six times in 12 Steps and 12 Traditions and three times in The Big Book. In the first step, when you admit you were powerless over substance abuse, which eventually turned your life into a mess, the acceptance is accountability in and of itself. The most common way to distill the first step is to be honest, but this will feel painful for many people. Some recovery counselors, particularly those who conduct interventions, don’t mention the pain of initial accountability because everyone will realize it at some point.

Insight, Integrity, & Acceptance

After the first step, the two that follow are mostly spiritual and emotional. Then we have steps four through six, which are analytical and more closely tied to accountability. If you’re attending group therapy sessions at an Encinitas sober living home, you’ll get insight from the rational energy fostered there, and the same happens with individual counseling. Armed with this insight, you can proceed to learn about integrity, a wonderful aspect of sobriety. By the time you work through the sixth step, you’re ready to approach accountability in a less painful manner, which means accepting what you can and cannot do.

Humility, Willpower, & Compassion

The seventh step comes naturally for most people because recovery is a humbling experience, but then you have to focus on willpower, which will only make sense through accountability. You need to gain and sustain emotional energy to continue your journey to recovery, even if you run into obstacles such as lapse and relapse. Compassion arises from accountability. It allows you to see your struggles not as failures but as learning experiences. The ninth step of compassion may feel a bit painful, but nothing like the first step.

Maintenance, Accomplishment, & a New Life

Accountability is front and center in the last three steps of AA. You have to start thinking not so much about falling off the recovery wagon but how to stay on it. Then you need to take account of what you’ve accomplished and what you still need to accomplish. This step is often difficult for people plagued by remorse because they’re too hard on themselves. In the 12th step, accountability comes full circle as you contemplate a new life. If you effectively rationalize that you must stay accountable to yourself and others, you’ll have a good shot at sobriety. Conversely, if you set accountability aside, you would need to return to the fifth step of integrity to get back on course.

If you’re newly sober and you need help with avoiding relapse, call on the compassionate team at Casa Pacifica. Along with providing sober living housing for men in Encinitas, we work with our individual residents to develop customized plans that integrate treatment, aftercare, and recovery support. Our services include sober companionship, coaching, and mentorship for those who are recovering from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. For more information about our sober living facilities, call us today.