Working the First Step in Your Alcoholics Anonymous Program
This AA Step One worksheet offers 22 questions about your relationship with alcohol, its effects on daily life, and accepting support. Download the printable PDF or read the questions below. You can work through a few questions at a time and discuss what you choose with someone you trust.
If you have been drinking heavily, talk with a healthcare professional about a safe plan before stopping. Alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous.
How to use this worksheet
You do not have to know exactly what you think about Step One before you start. Use these questions to look at your experiences with alcohol and the support you might want next.
Choose a few questions at a time. Short answers are fine, and you can use extra paper or come back later. Leave out names or details you want to keep private. If a question feels overwhelming, pause and talk it through with someone you trust. Share what you choose with a sponsor, recovery peer, or clinician.
22 AA Step One Reflection Questions
My relationship with alcohol
- What experiences with alcohol have led you to question how much control you have over your drinking?
- How has your relationship with alcohol changed over time, including any relief you sought and consequences you noticed?
- If you have tried to cut back or stop drinking, what happened? How did that experience affect the way you saw yourself?
- What explanations have you used for continuing to drink, and which seem less convincing to you now?
- How has drinking affected your ability to live by the values that matter to you?
Alcohol and everyday life
- Describe a situation in which drinking affected a choice or responsibility. What do you understand about it now?
- What do you notice about your mood, body, or responsibilities the day after drinking?
- How, if at all, has drinking changed the way you connect with people you care about?
- What concerns come up when you imagine accepting help with your drinking?
- How has alcohol affected the way you respond to everyday stress or difficult feelings?
- Have your drinking-related actions affected someone close to you? What would you like to understand about that experience?
Looking at my experience of Step One
- What limits or promises have you set around alcohol? Which have you been able to keep, and which have been hard to follow?
- When you picture the life you want, what place, if any, does alcohol have in it?
- What feelings come up around the words “powerless over alcohol”? What do those words mean to you?
- Was there a moment when you saw your drinking or its effects differently? What helped you notice it?
- Which parts of daily life feel hardest to manage right now? Where does alcohol seem to play a part?
- What does “unmanageable” look like in your own life, including things other people might not see?
Responsibility and accepting support
- If someone you cared about described experiences like yours, what support would you hope they would accept?
- What choices can you take responsibility for today, and where could support help you follow through?
- Which part of Step One makes sense to you today, and which part would you like to discuss or understand better?
- What would accepting help allow you to do that trying alone has made difficult?
- Who could you contact about one concern you identified, and what would you like to ask?
AA Step One worksheet previews
View the four worksheet pages below, or use the PDF download to print them.
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Understanding Step One
“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.”
Step One of Alcoholics Anonymous asks members to consider their experiences with alcohol and the ways life has become difficult to manage. In this worksheet, you can begin with a specific event, a limit you tried to set, or a concern you want to talk through.
You do not need to describe a dramatic loss or agree with every word before asking for support. Consider what fits your experience, what you are unsure about, and what you would like to understand better.
These questions were created by Ingrained Recovery as an independent resource. They are not AA-approved literature. This worksheet uses AA’s alcohol-specific wording. NA’s Step One refers to addiction; it is not the same worksheet with a different title.
Read AA’s Twelve Steps or the NA introductory guide for the fellowship’s own wording.
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Choosing a next step
You can ask for help while you are still figuring out what Step One means to you. Choose one answer you would like to return to or talk through with someone you trust.
A sponsor can help you explore Step work. Questions about withdrawal, symptoms, or treatment belong in a conversation with a healthcare professional. You can use both kinds of support.
Do I need to answer every question at once?
No. Start with a few that feel useful, write short answers, and return later if you want to. You decide what to share.
Do I need to settle my spiritual beliefs before starting?
You can begin by looking at your experiences with alcohol. AA discusses a Higher Power in later Steps; questions about belief can be part of an ongoing conversation.
Does this worksheet diagnose an alcohol problem?
No. These are reflection questions. If you are concerned about your drinking or your health, a healthcare professional can help you consider your options.
Related recovery resources
Getting Support at Ingrained Recovery
If you would like to discuss treatment or other support, you can learn about 12-step facilitation at Ingrained Recovery or contact our team with questions.
You do not need to agree with every part of Step One before asking for help.
All calls and requests for information are confidential, so please do not hesitate to reach out for our assistance today.
