Conquering
Chemical Dependency
Step 1 –
Admitting My Powerlessness
“We admit that by ourselves we are powerless over chemical substances, that our lives have become unmanageable”
Memory verse: Proverbs 14:12 – “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death”
Lesson 1: Where did it begin?
Q1. How many items did you check on the checklist on pages 10-11?
Q2. What conclusions did you come to regarding your substance use?
Q3. At what stage are you on the tolerance curve on page 12?
Lesson 2: The Stages of Addiction
Q4. Describe the feelings associated with your chemical addiction. On a scale from 0 (suicidally depressed) to 10 (ecstatic), where would your “normal” have been, before you started using?
Q5. Where would you say your “normal” is now, after having used for a number of years? What does this tell you about the effect your addiction is having on you?
Q6. How many items did you check under Stage One: Experimenting and Learning? Write out the items you checked.
Q7. How many items did you check under Stage Two: Seeking? Write out the items you checked.
Q8. How many items did you check under Stage Three: Obsessing? Write out the items you checked.
Q9. How many items did you check under Stage Four: Consuming? Write out the items you checked.
Q10. Copy the paragraph you wrote regarding the checklist, as answer to the question on page 18.
Lesson 3: Powerlessness
Q11. From the timeline on page 20, list the dates important events in your addiction life happened (e.g. parents divorced age 9, started smoking marijuana age 13, etc).
Q12. Having studied this lesson, type the answer you wrote in the box on page 22.
Lesson 4: Unmanageable
Q13. Describe what you consider an unmanageable life (page 23)
Q14. Looking at your answers to the questions at the bottom of page 23, how has your addiction affected you?
Q15. Which five ways have chemicals led you to compromise your values? (page 24)
Q16. Which five ways has your addiction contributed to financial, occupational or legal problems in your life? (page 24)
Q17. What crisis brought you to consider getting help at this time? (page 25)
Q18. How many of the symptoms of chemical dependency on page 25, did you check? Write out the symptoms you checked.
Q19. Does the evidence indicate that you can run your own life, and control both your life and your addiction? Why? (page 26)
Lesson 5: Reality
Q20. In the past, would you have been able to admit to having an addiction? How do you feel about that now?
Q21. List the top 5 objects of anger in your life, and rank them, with 1 being the object of greatest anger. (page 28)
Q22. What are you going to miss most by stopping using? Express your feelings about this. (page 29)
Summary
Q23. What are the major lessons you have learned as you progressed through this step? (half page)
