12-Step Programs & Religion

There are a variety of supposedly successful 12-step programs that acknowledge a “higher power” but that are not aligned with any specific religion. Are those religious or spiritual programs and do they work?

 According to M. Scott Peck, the human brain comes with an innate desire to align with someone or something powerful outside of it the self. He wrote in his book “People of the Lie,” that individuals who have not been able to get in touch with their innate spirituality, often settle for “spirits” instead. Studies reportedly have shown that of all the alcohol-recovery programs surveyed, 12-Step Programs have been the most successful in helping individuals stop drinking alcohol. They do talk about a Higher Power “as each individual perceives it,” and provides group meetings to help hold individuals accountable for their choices. That approach seems to work. Defining spirituality as the spirit with which one lives life, could align with this 12-step approach.