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Abstract
Spiritual awakening, a key aspect of 12-Step recovery, is designated in the 12th Step of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The authors applied a psychiatric survey instrument to 161 long-term AA members who reported having had such an awakening. Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported no craving for alcohol or drugs at the time of this survey. Their awakening had most often taken place gradually (60%), while they were working the Steps (52%), and right after bottoming out (57%). Their responses reflected a major experiential transformation, including highly significant changes: decreases in craving and depression and increases in service to other AA members. A factor analysis of descriptors of the awakening revealed the following six dimensions of the experience, with variability across respondents: positive mood, abstinence, interpersonally related, a sensory experience, God-related, and related to personal meaning. Findings showed that it is feasible to characterize commonalities in the nature of a spiritual awakening as a major transformative event across many long-term AA members, though the specific character of the experience differs across individuals.
