A Higher Power is a focusing mechanism. In most twelve step programs your higher power is as you define it.

When the program was first invented North America was predominantly Judo/Christian and it made sense to use God as the focus. In reality all the work and the help is from ourselves. If you define your Higher Power as the best part of you, (your potential), and use that as your focus then there is no reason to feel belittled. The tools still work to shift your mind from the addiction and allow you to remain clean and sober.

It never seemed right to me that the main treatment programs are religios based, especially since many people are mandated to attend. t's sad that there aren't more science based treatment options for recovering addicts.

I’ve not been through the program myself but my understanding from non believers that have, is that you could frame your idea of a higher power any way you want to: think of your higher power as Love, community, whatever you do actually believe in that’s greater/bigger than yourself. The purpose is just to get you thinking beyond yourself, to frame the interconnectivity of life in a greater context than just how it affects you. Probably a healthy way to get some perspective from a place of addiction but I do disagree with the way they’ve tended to framed it religiously. I would have considered myself an alcoholic at one time, and people in the program would call me a dry drunk probably, as I’m not totally sober now. My problem never got so serious that I needed a support group thankfully; at some point I just got tired of how it made me feel to drink all the time. I might tie one on once every few months now and i feel pretty good about my self control. But yeah you can absolutely have sobriety without a higher power, just probably not healthy to think of yourself as the highest power if you’re in a dark place because of addiction. Think of the support from those around you as your higher power in that case.

I think the idea is to allow yourself to surrender to something...letting go and allowing something to take over for you. It is suppose to help people let go of many emotions that keep them addicted. You can surrender without a higher power...obviously, it works because the AA programs have been around forever....but why surrender one "crutch" for another? Learn about triggers, the emotions, the ways to deal with whatever inside you crave and need...you are your higher power.

You are the highest power in your life! You may need a support system for a specific problem, and a wise person will get themselves one. But an imaginary friend? Bah humbug!

Absolutely. In fact, AA only works about 8 percent of the time, forcing AA to claim that those who don't 'succeed' fail because they don't work the program. Sort of like, "Your sick because you don't have enough faith." But there are some new, science-based programs that are having some promising success rates.

The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous
[theatlantic.com]

Absolutely. While I am not an alchoholic, I've been told a door knob can be your "higher power"....no religious figure is needed.

First off yes.

Secondly, the "higher power" is a psychological tactic meant to take some of the burden off of your shoulders which has a lot of validity, but obvious drawbacks anyone here can tell you. It's very difficult to know that all of the blame, strength, success, & failure rides on your shoulders and nobody else's. It's a tough burden, but the reality of AA is that those people are basically tricking themselves because we know there is no god and they had all the strength they needed inside them all along.

Yes.

According to AA, no. In reality, yes.

Yes. . . . .that higher power being myself.

Sure you can. [smartrecovery.org] is one of the leading self-empowering addiction recovery support group. Their participants learn tools for addiction recovery based on the latest scientific research and participate in a world-wide community which includes free, self-empowering, science-based mutual help groups.

Well I was uneasy about posting this especially after the fact. I'm glad I did this is some real dialogue. And in my experience and I can't suggest this for anybody else I found I didn't need to
100% abstain forever and I've been doing well for years now. But maintaining my current lifestyle takes work and if I have ever had higher power it's the fellowship in other people sharing themselves in their experience. So thanks.

None, I recovered and have never believed. i have seen people i know have there life saved by believing how ever.

Higher power = truth, beauty, and love.

I don't mean this in some touchy feely romcom way. Rather in a sincere and observable sense that these three related things are very different from other tangible things.

If a person considers any religious view of God, it is easy in a few moments to see the flaws. It is pretty obvious that religion is dubious and made up. If you begin asking questions, you eventually reach the end and have to employ faith in order to stay with it. It's my opinion that religion has no place for sincere people that take being alive seriously.

Love, truth, and beauty are different. The moment you describe any of those things, the description falls short. It is impossible to bring any sacrilege to them because they lie outside of tangibility. Try to describe, compliment, or disrespect those three things and you'll find it impossible to do without dumbing the concept down away from its original meaning.

From truth, beauty, and love, all things worth doing in life spring out.

From truth, you see that addiction is going to kill your body. We are built to deal with actuality and addiction is a way for us to hide from what is happening. We are abusing ourselves if we do that.

Addiction is a denial of beauty because we are tethered to a substance that breaks us down and makes our lives complicated. There is real beauty in simplicity and austerity. There is freedom is that simplicity.

Addiction is often rooted in fear. If you are afraid, then your ability to perceive is going to be hampered because open curiosity and discovery require the mind to not be concerned with itself. Curiosity comes from a person not in fear, but from a mind and heart that can love.

Recognition of these things as a higher power (because I think beauty, love, and truth are above me) could allow a person to be nonreligious and still use a 12 step program - such as it is.

If it sounds like I'm talking nonsense, then I apologize for my lack of clarity. If you take some time and think about what I'm saying, you might find that I'm on to something.

All the best to you!

I have been lucky enough to have never personally dealt with this type of issue, but I listen to podcasts and this one seems very relevant. It's fascinating if you have time to listen. [wnycstudios.org]

Why not believe in a higher power if you find it helpful? As long as that higher power is not a creator God but some more sensible being, I don't see a problem, there must be many powers higher than a mere lowly human being in the cosmos...

Absolutely, will power is an amazing thing, these people who are lost in their addiction have no hope they have no will power to fight, well at least thats what they think, they feel powerless so they believe they are powerless, the human mind and perception are powerful, the idea of god, this greater power, with the ability to do anything gives them the push to use what was essentially there all along, to change their perception of what they themselves are capable of doing.

Absolutely, will power is an amazing thing, these people who are lost in their addiction have no hope they have no will power to fight, well at least thats what they think, they feel powerless so they believe they are powerless, the human mind and perception are powerful, the idea of god, this greater power, with the ability to do anything gives them the push to use what was essentially there all along, to change their perception of what they themselves are capable of doing.

I got there without one. But I was a functioning alcoholic, so I could leave it alone when it was necessary and perhaps that was what enabled me to quit entirely.

I think I'm lucky to have a cut-off switch hard-wired into my personality. In some ways it's a nuisance as I will abruptly walk away from things that appeared fine on the surface, to the utter bewilderment of all who know me. But in the case of alcohol, I literally put my glass down one evening, after 20 years in its clutches, and said "nah, I'm not doing this any more".

If there were any real motivating factors — 'higher powers' — they were self-disgust and a loyalty to the younger me whom I felt I was betraying. Soppy though it sounds.

I've never dealt with an addiction but it seems to me that every day there are two choices, either use or not. A higher power isn't providing strength. It comes from the individual.

I was a drunk, not alcoholic. Know the difference? I quit drinking with no program.