Spirituality, religion, and recovery: what about the nonreligious?

ABSTRACT

This review examines the body of literature on the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the relationship between spirituality and recovery, and the implications for nonreligious individuals in such settings. It spotlights research that documents the positive effects of spiritual transformations on recovery outcomes. Concurrently, it highlights the obstacles encountered by nonreligious participants in AA, including feelings of alienation due to the program’s emphasis on spirituality. The review concludes by stressing the necessity for additional studies into the experiences of nonreligious individuals within 12-step frameworks like AA, aiming to improve recovery practices for a growing nonreligious population.

KEYWORDS:

• Religion
• spirituality
• treatment efficacy

Acknowledgments

The author was supported as a postdoctoral fellow in the Behavioral Sciences Training in Drug Abuse Research program sponsored by New York University with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (5T32 DA007233). Points of view, opinions, and conclusions in this paper do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Government or NYU.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).