Are 12 Step Recovery Programs Best for Addicts?

I came across a recent article in the Guardian Newspaper titled 12-step recovery programmes are best for addicts. It is based on an interview with Mark Gilman who is apparently some type of strategic advisor for addiction recovery with Public Health Department in England. The article opens with the news:

Mark Gilman is a man with a mission. In his role as England’s addiction recovery champion, it’s his aim for the country’s addiction treatment services to tap into what he sees as an underused resource: mutual aid groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

This doesn’t sound like a very original idea to me. It is more like something that would have been suggested fifty years ago. Gilman is quoted as saying:

“We’ve got something like 300,000 heroin and crack cocaine users in England. Over time we’ve probably had the vast majority in treatment, around 200,000. I’d like every one of them to have some exposure to [12-step fellowships].”

I spent most of my alcoholic life in England and enjoyed plenty of exposure to the 12 Step Groups, but I remained an addict. I went to rehabs in the eighties and nineties, and while there I was expected to attend these meetings – so what is being suggesting is nothing new. Mark Gilman seems to be under the impression that the problem is that people are not getting enough exposure to these fellowships, but is that really the case? People kept telling me that AA was my only option, and it was only when I found that this wasn’t true that I could make real progress.

I doubt that there are many addicts in England who have not heard of the 12 Step Groups. They are already heavily promoted. Gilman wants addicts to ‘have some exposure’ to these fellowships. Is he suggested that people should be forced to attend? This more or less already happens in many rehabs, and it is no obvious magical cure – it can make people even resistant to these groups.

The 12 Step fellowships have been around for decades already. It is obvious that this solution only works for some people – I’m glad it is there for the people who need it. There are also dangers associated with the AA program. It seems to me that these fellowships already get enough attention, and it is time to promote other options. What do you think?