The Twelve-step groups address to people addicted to gambling. The twelve steps are the following:
1) “We admitted that we were powerless as far as it concern gambling and that our life was out of our control. ”
2) “We believed that a greater power beyond ourselves could restore our mental and spiritual health.”
3) “We decided to devote our will and our lives to the care of God”
4) “We searched without fear the moral side of ourselves.”
5)” We admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our mistakes. ” This step is nothing more than a confession, which was taught in the Oxford Group. We read in the Greek Book of Narcotics Anonymous: “As we share our personal feelings and our carefully guarded secrets, we may experience anxiety. However, many of us took a look and saw unconditional love in the eyes of the person [member or members of the group] who listened to our Fifth Step. ”
6) “We Were ready to let God remove all these deficits of our character. ”
7) “We asked God to correct all our imperfections.”
8) “We made a list of all the people that we hurt and we were willing to make up for what we have done.”
9) “We made up for all our mistakes whenever possible as long as we don’t harm others.”
10) “We continued to judge ourselves and when we were wrong we admitted it.”
11) “We tried to improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation as we prayed in order to know his will and acquire the power to carry that out”.
12) “As a result of these steps, we were spiritually awakened and tried to carry this message to others that were addicted to gambling and to practice these principles in all our events.”
The newcomers are required to attend at least 90 meetings and to find an instructor who is usually an older member with whom they will process the Twelve Steps. Each meeting has a specific ritual. In the beginning they remain silent for one minute. Then they recite the “prayer of peace” : “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference. ” Then they refer to the twelve steps. If someone wants to speak he must say: “I am Lefteris and I am addicted to gambling” where they talk about their experiences according to gambling and how they get addicted. The oldest members guide the discussion. They finish the meeting with a prayer: “You should come as it works for you. “
In Thessaloniki there is a group of Anonymous Gamblers. The address is 10 Metropolitan, 4th Floor. They meet every Wednesday 20:30 to 22:30, Thursday 20:30 to 22:30, Sunday 11:00 to 12:30. There is another Support Center for Addicted Individuals, Oasis. The address is 12 Moskof and the tel. 2310 508598.
Sources:
-Internal newsletter entitled “HOW AND WHY IT WORKS” page 28.
-Http :/ / www.morerevealed.com / articles / devin.htm
-Http :/ / thearidsite.tripod.com/12SEREPR.HTM
-Bufe Charles, «Alcoholics Anonymous – Cult or Cure?», Chapter 1, Sharp Press, 1998.