Trauma and the 12 Steps, Revised and Expanded

An Inclusive Guide to Enhancing Recovery

By: Jamie Marich, Stephen Dansiger PsyD MFT

Narrated by: Marissa Ghavami

An inclusive, research-based guide to working the 12 steps: a trauma-informed approach for clinicians, sponsors, and those in recovery.

Step 1: You admit that you're powerless over your addiction. Now what?

12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) have helped countless people on the path to recovery. But many still feel that 12-step programs aren't for them: that the spiritual emphasis is too narrow, the modality too old-school, the setting too triggering, or the space too exclusive. Some struggle with an addict label that can eclipse the histories, traumas, and experiences that feed into addiction, or dismisses the effects of adverse experiences like trauma in the first place. Advances in addiction medicine, trauma, neuropsychiatry, social theory, and overall strides in inclusivity need to be integrated into modern-day 12-step programs to reflect the latest research and what it means to live with an addiction today.

Dr. Jamie Marich, an addiction and trauma clinician in recovery herself, builds necessary bridges between the 12-step's core foundations and up-to-date developments in trauma-informed care. Foregrounding the intersections of addiction, trauma, identity, and systems of oppression, Marich's approach treats the whole person--not just the addiction--to foster healing, transformation, and growth.

Written for clinicians, therapists, sponsors, and those in recovery, Marich provides an extensive toolkit of trauma-informed skills that:
• Explains how trauma impacts addiction, recovery, and relapse
• Celebrates communities who may feel excluded from the program, like atheists, agnostics, and LGBTQ+ folks
• Welcomes outside help from the fields of trauma, dissociation, mindfulness, and addiction research
• Explains the differences between being trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive; and
• Discusses spiritual abuse as a legitimate form of trauma that can profoundly impede spirituality-based approaches to healing.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Jamie Marich (P)2020 North Atlantic Books

Critic reviews

"Jamie Marich offers a compendium of practices that make using the twelve steps more
effective in sustaining recovery. There are suggestions for including expressive arts,
yoga breathing, meditation, prayer, and ceremony into the recovery plan. This book
belongs in the hands of everyone who serves those suffering from addiction." (Amy Weintraub, E-RYT-500, founder of LifeForce Yoga and author of Yoga for Depression)

"In this revised edition of Trauma and the 12 Steps, Marich updates and expands on her previous message on the importance of acknowledging the co-occurrence of problems with addictions with a history of trauma. This is a book that I will continue to wholeheartedly recommend!" (Christine A. Courtois, PhD, ABPP, author of Healing the Incest Wound)

"What I love most about this book is that it is built around a well-thought-out solution—one that is accessible and straightforward guided by years of collective wisdom and experience, and most especially pain—pain that is transformed into a whole new way of living." (Dan Griffin, MA, author of A Man’s Way through the Twelve Steps)

Excellent for those new to this space

This audio was helpful in understanding trama and its influence on healing for those affected by the use of stimulants to self medicate.

Trauma and 12 Step Recovery

I found this book to be very informative regarding Trauma and working the 12 step Programs. Resources offered and related items in appendix are awesome! I really enjoyed this book! I have recently joined a 12 step Program. I have had some ups and downs. This book really helped me to understand some of my problems with the program.

Better understanding of Trauma in Recovery

After 20 years in recovery, I had had some conflict with the 12 steps in my own recovery. This book helped give me some clarity on where I was bumping heads. It also will give me some grace walking in the future, and be more gentle with myself and others.

Very helpful healing within 12 Step structure

12 Step programs are everywhere, and have been helpful for stopping active addiction, and when done as thoroughly as possible, CAN provide benefit in healing the "causes & conditions" that drive addiction in the average addict/alcoholic.

From my experience (similar to what the authors shared), the "problem" those of us with trauma history have is in the rigidness & intolerance of SOME members of the fellowship (not 12 Step programs) that insist they know it all & feel qualified to judge others who's experiences are different than their own. They insight that "you just need to pray about it" and it will disappear.

You need to feel it, to heal it. Avoiding the unpleasant feelings with spiritual bypassing platitudes is not "healing" (though it certainly DOES have some value in certain conditions).

This book is quite valuable for helping me deal with my own Complex PTSD, it's validating.

A plug for Dr Dansiger. He's a leading teacher & practioner for EMDR, so if you have interest in EMDR, research his works.

Excellent

As a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, this book is an excellent resource. It helped me with my own trauma; I am better able to identify some of my own thoughts and feelings and how to deal with them. This book also identifies some of the tripping points for new members of Alcoholics Anonymous and how to help the newcomer.

Informative thorough

As a trauma therapist and sober 40 years I found myself increasingly frustrated with the old 12 step paradigm and it’s limits with regard to trauma and a changing population. As a result I was going to create an educational talk to try and explain how trauma affects people and how to deal effectively with trauma in AA! Imagine my surprise when I found this work! Thanks Jamie for your well thought out and detailed response

Life Changing

The most validating and useful tool I've discovered in my path of recovery and healing.

This book points to a bright new day for 12 step recovery programs.

This book shows how to simply easily remove the stumbling blocks of cultural and religious bias that from 12 step programs.
if The triggering of trauma is a main reason why many people cannot grasp and utilize a 12 step program , This book is the answer.

Not what I thought it would be

I've been exploring healing therapies for early childhood trauma. I've been involved with 12 step therapy for quite a while and thought that maybe this book could be useful in helping to blend some of the things I've been working on into my 12 step program. Well, I was sadly disappointed.

The book covers the author's history in 12 step groups but doesn't really going into anything that would be useful in helping anyone heal. This book was a waste of my time. I purchased it with one of my Audible credits so there's no option to get my money back. Not sure what the author's purpose was in writing this.

If you're looking for a book to help with your own recovery from a history of trauma you better look elsewhere. This isn't the book you need. However, if you want to read a book about how 12 step groups could change to suit the author, this might be your book. It's not a bad book, but just not helpful for my journey..

If you are looking for a book to help you get past your trauma you should look elsewhere. The only reason I'm writing this review is to stop you from wasting a perfectly good book credit.

Returned book

Don't waste a credit. This book has nothing to help with healing trauma. Its only goal is to warn you about AA meetings that you will probably never attend.