Patrick J Carnes - A Gentle Path Through the 12 Steps and 12 Principles Bundle: A Collection of Two Patrick Carnes Best Sellers

A Gentle Path

through the

Twelve Steps

The Classic Guide for All People
in the Process of Recovery

UPDATED AND EXPANDED

Patrick Carnes, Ph.D.

Hazelden Publishing

Center City, Minnesota 55012

800-328-9000
hazelden.org/bookstore

A Gentle Path through the Twelve Steps 1993, 2012 by Patrick J. Carnes, Ph.D.

A Gentle Path through the Twelve Principles 2012 by Patrick J. Carnes, Ph.D.

Electronic bundle edition published 2012

All rights reserved. Produced in the United States of America. No part of this electronic publication may be copied, sold, or redistributed in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Failure to comply with these terms may expose you to legal action and damages for copyright infringement.

e-book ISBN (for bundle of two books): 978-1-61649-462-9

Affirmations

Consequences Inventory

Family Tree and Addiction

Addiction History

Abuse Checklist

Step One for Addicts

Step One for Coaddicts

First Step Lessons

Reflections on the First Step

The Recovering Brain

Celebrating Your Progress

Spiritual Care Inventory

Loss-of-Reality Inventory

Paths to Spirituality

Spirituality Affirmations

One-Year-to-Live Fantasy

Letter to Your Higher Power

Reflections on the Second and Third Steps

Fourth Step Inventories

Avoiding Personal Responsibility

Taking Personal Responsibility

Misuse of Anger

Positive Expression of Anger

Paralyzed by Fear

Respect for Fear

Falling into Self-sabotage

Taking Healthy Risks

Shameful Events

Pride in Your Achievements

Losses and Painful Events

Learning from Sadness

Beliefs about Your Unworthiness

Self-hatred

Self-affirmations

Reflections on the Fourth Step

Sharing Step Five: Suggestions for the Turning Point

Fifth Step Reconciliation Rite

Reflections on the Fifth Step

Affirmations

Step Six: Removing Character Defects

Seventh Step Meditation

Personal Craziness Index

Part OnePreparation

Part TwoRecording Your PCI

Part ThreeInterpretation of the PCI

Part FourPCI Meditation

When Crises OccurAcknowledge the Chaos

Reflections on the Sixth and Seventh Steps

Record of Those Harmed and Amends Made

The Healer Within

Meditation

Affirmations

Reflections on the Eighth and Ninth Steps

Partial, Convenient, and Inconvenient Recovery

Balanced Equations: A Ten-Day Exercise for Steps Ten and Eleven

Creating a Life of Congruence

Day One: Happiness = Satisfaction/Desires

Day Two: Growth = Change/Stability

Day Three: Serenity = Boundaries/Options

Day Four: Peace of Mind = Known to Others/Known to Self

Day Five: Reality = Light Side/Dark Side

Day Six: Achievement = Vision/Plan

Day Seven: Intimacy = Fidelity to Self/Fidelity to Others

Day Eight: Productivity = Being/Doing

Day Nine: Health = Awareness/Practice

Day Ten: Spirituality = Mortality/Meaning

Daily Tenth Step Inventory

Affirmations

Reflections on the Tenth Step

Spiritual Quest Planning Sheet

Spiritual Quest Debriefing

Reflections on the Eleventh Step

Twelfth Step Guide Affirmations

Sobriety Worksheets

Gifts of the Spirit

Beginning Again

Reflections on the Twelfth Step

A. The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous

B. A Guide for Group Use

C. The Wisdom of the Big Books

D. Suggested Readings

E. Twelve Step Support Group Information

F. Recovery Resources from Dr. Patrick Carnes and Associates

FOR NEARLY SEVENTY-FIVE years, the Twelve Steps have served as an extraordinary recipe for recovery. Since they were first published in the book Alcoholics Anonymous in 1939, they have had a profound impact far beyond the world of alcoholism, helping tens of millions of people with addictions of all types.

The Twelve Steps have been so useful and translatable because they tap into the essential human process of change and make that process more explicit, more understandable, and more sustainable. I believe that, a century from now, the Twelve Steps will be regarded as one of historys great intellectual and spiritual landmarksone that marked our emergence into a diverse, global society.

The central premise of this bookthat addiction manifests in many forms, extending far beyond drugs and alcoholseems self-evident to contemporary readers. We now know that sex, food, money, work, relationships, shopping, gambling, gaming, and many other aspects of life can all devolve into compulsive behavior, which is the essential component of addiction. We also know that the Twelve Steps can help people with any (or any combination) of these compulsions to recover.

Today we also know that having a combination of addictions is far more common than having only one. Eighty-seven percent of people with addictions have two or more. As one Twelve Step joke notes, if some addicts went to all the meetings they qualified for, theyd do nothing else with their lives.

Twenty-five years ago our awareness was much narrower. In 1987, when the first edition of this book was proposed to publishers, many folks objected heatedly to putting alcoholics and drug addictsor any two groups of people with different addictionstogether in the same room. Many professionals saw alcoholics as very different (and slightly more refined) than drug addicts. Most other forms of addiction were given no credence at all. When I went on Phil Donahues show to talk about sex addiction, the topic was widely perceived as a joke. Back then, looking at Twelve Step life as a wholeacross addictions and fellowshipswas considered a radically new, groundbreaking approach. It threatened many professionals and frightened most publishers, who also believed firmly that people wouldnt buy workbooks.

Eventually I found a publisher (not the current publisher) who would take the risk of publishing A Gentle Path through the Twelve Steps but only if I would also create a set of six audio tapes. The rationale was that the tapes would do well enough to jump-start sales of the bookor, failing that, to at least offset the publishers probable financial loss on the book.

Today, twenty-five years later, A Gentle Path through the Twelve Steps has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide and has become one of its current publishers top-selling books. As for the audio tapes, they did not sell well and have been unavailable for many years. Im not even sure where my own tapes are.

One of the hallmarks of A Gentle Path through the Twelve Steps has been that anybody can use it. It works for all kinds of addicts; it works for coaddicts; it doesnt matter what fellowship you are in. Each edition of the book provides a concrete, structured way to implement what the authors of Alcoholics Anonymous discovered and described in the 1930s. It gives readers a focused path for integrating the Twelve Steps into their lives in a practical, doable way. With each new edition, my goal has been to make that path clearer, more helpful, and more profound.