#Moral inventory meaning how to#

The NA guide explains that morals are simply values, the principles that you choose to live by today in your recovery. Throughout your addiction, you have operated with a distorted self-image, never fully looking at the whole picture all at once. Your self-honesty is most important since it will lead you to discover how your disease has affected your life. This requires honesty-honesty to examine your behaviors, feelings, thoughts, and motives, regardless of how unimportant they may appear.

What you are searching for is a complete and total picture of yourself. You need to be willing to illuminate every corner of every room of your mind as if your life depends on it, because it does. Move ahead, despite your fear or resistance to the unknown. Search within, as if entering a dark house with a single candle to guide you. You are asked to look carefully at yourself and to get beneath the self-deceptions you have used up to now to hide the truth from yourself. NA emphasizes that Step 4 calls on you to be searching and fearless.

#Moral inventory meaning how to#

You have to be honest with yourself throughout the 12-step program and throughout your recovery process.Īlthough the 12-step program originated with Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous also provides some helpful information and guidance as to how to really make a searching, fearless moral inventory. Continue to be honest with yourself about your addiction, understanding that recovery can begin when with one simple admission of being powerless over alcohol or drugs. Honesty was an integral aspect of Step 1 in the 12-step program. Dig in and let the pressure begin to ease off.” The Importance of Honesty Work on getting to the root of the big problems now. The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions reads, “Since Step Four is but the beginning of a lifetime practice, it can be suggested that we first have a look at those personal flaws which are acutely troublesome and fairly obvious. Record where you were at fault and what it is about it that hurts you now. Think about your embarrassment, fear, or guilt. A moral inventory deals with feelings, both good and bad.

It is more a list of your reaction than of what actually happened. Your inventory is a list of your resentments, fears, guilt, hate, and hang-ups. The main goal in making a searching, fearless moral inventory is to help you gain a better understanding of yourself during treatment. As you write, don’t worry about how it will look to anyone else. Remember that your inventory is for you and only for you. You do need to be thorough and honest with yourself as you work through your list. You’re not trying to change anything with your inventory. This is one of the most challenging, and one of the most important, steps. Step 4 of the 12-step program is to make a searching, fearless moral inventory. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, the 12 steps are designed to guide you through your recovery from drug or alcohol addiction, to lasting sobriety. Working through the 12-step program is part of a holistic healing journey. Addiction & Mental Health Treatment Blog.Schizoaffective Disorder Treatment Program.