Latter-day Saint Addiction Recovery Program

1. Introduction

Version followed: Healing through the Savior: The Addiction Recovery Program 12-Step Recovery Guide (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023) together with the ARP Administrative Guide (© 2018, 2023, version 7/23) and the Support Guide: Help for Spouses and Family of Those in Recovery (2014). The earlier Addiction Recovery Program: A Guide to Addiction Recovery and Healing (2005) is referred to where its chapter names help. [source: ARP 2023 guide, Step 1; Administrative Guide; 2005 guide table of contents]

What it is. The Addiction Recovery Program (ARP) is not a therapy a clinician delivers. It is a free, Church-sponsored self-help and mutual-support programme that adapts the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to Latter-day Saint doctrine. Family Services (the Church's welfare and counselling arm) writes its content and policy, screens and trains volunteers and manages operations; weekly meetings are run by volunteer senior service missionaries (group leaders) with a facilitator who is living in recovery. The program states explicitly that its groups are not run by professional counsellors and are not treatment groups. Meetings exist for substance use, pornography use and other compulsive behaviours, plus separate spouse-and-family support groups; they are open to adults (18+) of any or no faith, need no approval from a bishop, and are attended anonymously by first name. [source: ARP website "What can I expect"; Administrative Guide; ARP overview PDF 2022]

Core idea of change. The 2023 guide frames addiction as something that often begins from curiosity, a real need, rebellion or a wish to escape pain and then becomes a main way of coping, kept alive by denial, secrecy and isolation. Change comes from drawing on the power of Jesus Christ (His Atonement and grace): honest admission that one cannot heal alone, faith and surrender to God, a written moral inventory, confession, change of heart, seeking forgiveness and making amends, daily accountability, personal revelation through prayer, and service to others. The program's stated mission is to help people draw on Christ's power to prevent or recover from compulsive or addictive behaviours that affect their agency and covenants. [source: ARP 2023 guide Steps 1, 4, 5; ARP overview PDF; Ensign 2009]

Your role as a clinician. You refer clients to ARP, prepare them, work alongside it, and help them use the step work safely within therapy. You do not run ARP meetings in a professional capacity, assign sponsors or hear Church confessions. Founding date and individual founders are [uncertain]; the 2009 Church article attributes the program only to (then) LDS Family Services.

2. Framework

Not a phased treatment. ARP has no assessment, dose or discharge. Its structure is (a) the 12 steps, worked individually with the guide and ideally a sponsor, and (b) a weekly support meeting that studies one step each week. [source: Administrative Guide; Ensign 2009]

The 12 steps and key principles (paraphrased)

The Church's steps are adapted from AA's and reworded in Latter-day Saint terms. Below are paraphrases, not the published wording. The key-principle names come from the 2005 guide's chapter titles; the 2023 guide's names were confirmed only for Steps 1, 4, 5 and 9 (Step 9 is now "Make Amends") [uncertain for the rest].

[source: ARP 2023 guide table of contents as shown on Step 1 page; 2005 guide table of contents]

Structure of each chapter (2023 guide)

• Key Principle: a short teaching on the step's theme.
• Action Steps: 1–3 concrete things to do (e.g., Step 1: let go of pride, be honest and talk to someone, attend meetings).
• Study and Understanding: scripture-based reflection topics, each with writing prompts ("Create a Note" in the Gospel Library app).
• Appendix: Support in Recovery; Choosing a Sponsor; Principles to Write an Effective Inventory; Recognizing and Welcoming the Newcomer. [source: ARP 2023 guide Steps 1, 4; appendix index]

Meeting format (recovery meetings)

Weekly, same time, generally no longer than 1.5 hours (the guide also allows one hour). Scripted by the group leader:

1. Welcome, introductions of leaders, check for first-timers, first names only, phones silenced, announcements.
2. Opening prayer by a volunteer.
3. Mission statement read.
4. Crisis information read (in the US, 988 by call, text or chat).
5. The 12 steps read in turn; anyone may pass.
6. Step study: the week's step read aloud, one or two paragraphs each; anyone may pass.
7. The Action Steps section read in turn.
8. Facilitator introduced and shares (up to five minutes) a positive experience with the step and testimony of the Savior.
9. Group sharing, usually 3–5 minutes each, ending five minutes before close; rules restated (solutions, no graphic detail, no cross talk, first names).
10. Closing comments: thanks, confidentiality restated, note that shared views may not reflect Church doctrine, invitation to use the guide and the sponsor and support documents.
11. Group leader testimony (up to five minutes), closing prayer.
12. After the meeting, a leader speaks privately with anyone under 18 about the age requirement.

Spouse and family meetings use a read-and-discuss format with the Support Guide, pausing at section ends for discussion, then sharing focused on emotional growth and gospel principles. [source: Administrative Guide]

Meeting types: general (substances and other addictions; mixed or single-gender), pornography use (gender-specific with same-gender leaders), other specific issues (by approval), spouse and family (gender-specific or couples), phone and video meetings (capped at 25; recording prohibited; confidentiality cannot be guaranteed online). Held in Church buildings or, with approval, correctional facilities; not in treatment centres. Groups and meeting times are found through the ARP website, but the Administrative Guide says street addresses are withheld from the public site and given out by group leaders, coordinators or priesthood leaders. [source: Administrative Guide; ARP website]

Pace and moving between steps

• The guide sets no schedule; steps are an ongoing programme of action in daily life. [source: ARP 2023 Step 4]
• Step 5 should follow Step 4 promptly; Step 4 is revisited and added to over time. [source: ARP 2023 Step 5; inventory appendix]
• Step 9 follows Step 8 and is done only after prayer and consultation with a sponsor or adviser, and with timing judged carefully (neither impulsive nor fear-delayed). [source: ARP 2023 Step 9]
• Readiness criteria are otherwise not specified. Practical markers a clinician can use: client can attend without acute risk, has some sobriety or a safety plan before the inventory, has a supportive sponsor or person for Step 5, and has processed trauma enough to write about it without destabilising [synthesis].

Typical clinician course of involvement [synthesis]

1. Assess fit and readiness (1 session).
2. Prepare for a first meeting and choose meeting type (same or next session).
3. Debrief first 2–3 meetings; troubleshoot.
4. Integrate step work into therapy (inventory, confession, amends planning) at the client's pace.
5. Maintenance: daily accountability, relapse planning, service; taper therapy while meeting attendance continues.

3. Guiding principles

Programme principles as published, each with its practical meaning for you:

• Self-help, not treatment. ARP supplements, never replaces, clinical or medical care; leaders encourage professional help for persistent struggles. [source: ARP website; Administrative Guide]
• Christ-centred recovery. The power for change is understood as coming through Jesus Christ; respect this as the client's framework rather than translating it away. [source: ARP 2023 guide; overview PDF]
• Honesty is the foundation. Step 1 treats honest admission as the base for all later steps; support the client in telling one trusted person the truth. [source: ARP 2023 Step 1]
• Secrecy feeds addiction; confession breaks isolation. Step 5 is about bringing hidden wrongs into the open with safe people. [source: ARP 2023 Step 5]
• Voluntary, anonymous, free. No bishop approval, no registration by name, no cost; reassure clients worried about exposure. [source: Administrative Guide]
• Participate at your own comfort. Anyone may say "pass" and only listen; tell anxious clients this explicitly. [source: ARP website]
• Solutions, not graphic detail. Sharing focuses on applying principles, not describing the behaviour; useful for clients with pornography or sexual-behaviour concerns who fear triggering others. [source: Administrative Guide]
• No cross talk. Participants do not criticise, counsel or praise one another's shares; prepare clients not to expect feedback in the room. [source: Administrative Guide]
• Confidentiality. What is heard stays in the room; online confidentiality cannot be guaranteed, so advise a private space. [source: ARP website; Administrative Guide]
• Approved materials only. Scripture, Church magazines and the ARP guides; outside literature (including AA's) is not used in meetings. [source: Administrative Guide]
• Sponsorship is chosen, not assigned. A joint decision by the person, the sponsor and the Lord; same gender unless relatives; generally 12+ months of recovery. [source: Choosing a Sponsor appendix]
• A sponsor is a guide, not a therapist or best friend. Sponsors guide step work, keep confidences and boundaries, and do not fix or decide for the person. [source: Choosing a Sponsor appendix]
• Strengths belong in the inventory. The inventory lists virtues as well as weaknesses; balance shame-focused work. [source: ARP 2023 Step 4; inventory appendix]
• Trauma needs safe pacing. The guide itself advises a therapist, counsellor or doctor when inventory work touches abuse or violence. [source: inventory appendix]
• Release, don't ruminate. Step 5 warns against obsessively rehearsing sins. [source: ARP 2023 Step 5]
• Amends must not cause further harm. Legal restrictions, risk to others and the person's wishes come first; indirect amends are valid. [source: ARP 2023 Step 9]
• Family are not responsible for the loved one's choices. Their responsibility is their own response; controlling or fixing can delay recovery; boundaries and self-care are expected. [source: Support Guide introduction]
• Professional help consistent with gospel principles. The Church recommends professionals who respect the client's faith; be explicit about how your approach fits. [source: Administrative Guide; Ensign 2009]
• Clinician stance: client's religious autonomy. Decisions about confession to a bishop, Church standing or disclosure are the client's; explore them, never direct or forbid them. [synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

The ARP is run by Church volunteers, so this inventory has two parts. Part A is the set of clinician procedures for referring to and working alongside ARP; it is mostly [synthesis], built from what the programme publishes. Part B describes the programme's own tools as the Church publishes them, paraphrased, so you can coach clients through them and know what they will meet. You do not run Part B as therapy. Example language is illustrative throughout.

Part A: Clinician procedures

A1. Assess fit for ARP [synthesis]

• Purpose: decide whether ARP suits this client now, or another or additional support is better.
• Steps: (1) Ask about religious identity and how the client relates to it now: active, wavering, estranged, or not a Latter-day Saint (ARP welcomes anyone, but meetings include prayer, testimony and scripture). (2) Assess the target behaviour and severity: substances needing medical withdrawal management, pornography or sexual behaviour, gambling or other compulsions. ARP offers no detox or clinical care. (3) Screen for suicide risk, active trauma symptoms, intimate-partner violence and abuse issues that need clinical or protective responses first. (4) Ask what pressures exist: spouse, bishop, court order (courts sometimes order attendance, according to the 2009 Church article). (5) Ask about shame and scrupulosity: will a sin-and-confession framework help or deepen self-condemnation? (6) Check age: ARP is for adults; under-18s are redirected to parents, bishop and health providers. (7) Offer choices: ARP, a secular or other 12-step group, or both.
• Example language (illustrative): "The ARP groups are free and faith-based. People read a step together, pray, and share how gospel principles are helping them. How does that sound to you, given where you are with the Church right now?"
• Watch for: attendance driven only by a spouse's or leader's demand; strong religious ambivalence (attendance may increase guilt); medical risk that ARP cannot manage.
• Sources: age, self-help status and court-order note [source: Administrative Guide; Ensign 2009]; rest [synthesis].

A2. Choose the right meeting type [synthesis from published types]

• Purpose: match the client to the group most likely to feel safe.
• Steps: (1) Explain the published types: general recovery (mixed, men-only or women-only), gender-specific pornography groups, spouse-and-family groups, and phone or video meetings. (2) For clients afraid of being recognised in their own ward, suggest a meeting outside their area or a phone meeting; the ARP site describes phone meetings as offering more anonymity, though face-to-face is preferred. (3) For partners and parents, point to the spouse-and-family group rather than the recovery group. (4) Help the client find a meeting on the ARP website and, if needed, ask a leader for the address.
• Example language (illustrative): "There are men-only meetings for pornography use, and you can join by phone at first if walking into a chapel feels like too much."
• Watch for: online groups: Family Services says it cannot guarantee confidentiality online, so the client needs a private room.
• Sources: [source: ARP website; Administrative Guide].

A3. Prepare the client for the first meeting [synthesis using published format]

• Purpose: lower anxiety and dropout after one visit.
• Steps: (1) Walk through the format (Section 2): welcome, prayer, mission statement, reading the steps, reading one step, facilitator share, group sharing, testimony, prayer. (2) Tell them they may give a first name only and may say "pass" to reading or sharing. (3) Explain the rules: no graphic detail, no cross talk; nobody will respond to or advise them about what they say. (4) Suggest they arrive a little early and tell the leader they are new; leaders are trained to welcome newcomers without pressure to share. (5) Mention the guide is free in the Gospel Library app or online. (6) Plan a short debrief next session.
• Example language (illustrative): "You can sit and listen the whole time. When it's your turn, 'pass' is completely fine."
• Watch for: anticipatory shame; fear of meeting someone they know (agree on a plan if that happens).
• Sources: pass, first names, newcomer welcome [source: ARP website; Administrative Guide]; rest [synthesis].

A4. Debrief early meetings [synthesis]

• Purpose: catch problems (shame, mismatch, discomfort with religious content) before the client drops out.
• Steps: (1) Ask what they noticed, felt and identified with. (2) Ask whether anything felt shaming or confusing. (3) Normalise trying three or four meetings or other groups before deciding. (4) Link one thing they heard to a current therapy goal.
• Example language (illustrative): "What did you hear tonight that sounded like your story?"
• Watch for: a story of rejection or judgement that the client generalises to everyone; sudden enthusiasm that replaces therapy.

A5. Support sponsor selection [synthesis from the sponsor appendix]

• Purpose: help the client choose a safe, suitable sponsor.
• Steps: (1) Explain the published criteria: someone who has worked the steps with roughly 12+ months of recovery, same gender unless a relative, met at meetings or introduced by a group leader. (2) Discuss what a sponsor does (questions, resources, practical help with steps, encouragement to attend) and does not do (fix, decide, replace professionals, offer unlimited time). (3) Mention that temporary sponsors are allowed and the person can change sponsors at any time. (4) Agree how therapy and sponsorship will interact (e.g., the sponsor guides the steps; trauma processing stays in therapy).
• Example language (illustrative): "Who at the meeting talks about recovery in a way that sounds hopeful and steady? That's often a good person to ask."
• Watch for: sponsors giving clinical advice, demanding loyalty or fostering dependence (the appendix names these as things to avoid).
• Sources: [source: Choosing a Sponsor appendix; Administrative Guide].

A6. Integrate step work in therapy [synthesis]

• Purpose: make ARP work and therapy reinforce each other.
• Steps: (1) Ask which step the client is on and what the week's meeting covered. (2) Use the step's themes as a bridge: honesty (Step 1) to motivational work; hope and trust (Steps 2–3) to values; inventory (Step 4) to formulation of triggers and patterns; daily accountability (Step 10) to self-monitoring and relapse prevention. (3) Keep religious content in the client's words; do not preach or debate doctrine. (4) Keep clinical tasks (trauma processing, medication referral, risk management) in therapy.
• Example language (illustrative): "In your inventory you noticed resentment comes up before you use. Let's map exactly what happens in those moments."
• Watch for: step work being used as self-punishment; therapy turning into a Church lesson.

A7. Refer and support family members [synthesis from Support Guide]

• Purpose: give spouses and parents their own support.
• Steps: (1) Offer the spouse-and-family groups and the Support Guide (12 chapters; read in any order but cover all; each has a key principle, gospel study and personal application; journalling suggested). (2) Reinforce the guide's message that they did not cause and are not responsible for the loved one's choices and that controlling or fixing can delay recovery. (3) Help them set boundaries and self-care. (4) Screen separately for safety, betrayal trauma, depression and abuse; the introduction to the guide does not address abuse or professional care [uncertain for the rest of the guide].
• Example language (illustrative): "Your job isn't to keep him sober. Your job is to look after yourself and decide what you will and won't accept."
• Watch for: a partner being pressured to forgive quickly; violence or coercive control.
• Sources: [source: Support Guide introduction; Administrative Guide].

Part B: The programme's own tools (as published, paraphrased)

B1. Weekly meeting attendance

• Purpose: support, hope and gospel-based study of one step a week; Step 1 lists attending meetings as an action step.
• Steps (as experienced by the client): see the meeting format in Section 2. Attendance is unlimited, free and unregistered by name; the client may listen only.
• Example language (illustrative, clinician): "Which meeting will you try this week, and what might get in the way?"
• Watch for: steady attendance, starting to share, asking about a sponsor. Dropout after one or two visits usually signals shame or mismatch (see A4).
• Sources: [source: ARP 2023 Step 1; Administrative Guide; ARP website].

B2. Step 1 action steps: let go of pride, be honest and talk to someone

• Purpose: break denial and isolation; the guide treats honesty as the foundation for the other steps.
• Steps (paraphrased): (1) Recognise pride as what fuels denial; accept humility even when it comes through painful consequences. (2) Pray for honesty and clarity, then choose a trusted person (spouse, parent, relative, Church leader, friend, coworker, therapist, sponsor, missionary or facilitator) and tell them about the struggle. (3) Attend meetings. Study topics ask the person to note signs of powerlessness, what they hide, how far the behaviour has gone, which standards they have broken and how they have rationalised it.
• Example language (illustrative): "Who is one person you could tell the whole truth to this week? What would you need to say first?"
• Watch for: disclosure to someone unsafe or rejecting; plan the disclosure in therapy, especially to a spouse (see B5 caution).
• Sources: [source: ARP 2023 Step 1].

B3. Study and Understanding reflection writing (all steps)

• Purpose: apply each step's theme personally through scripture-based reflection.
• Steps: read the step's study topics; answer the prompts in writing (the Gospel Library app offers "Create a Note"). Step 1 topics include powerlessness, spiritual hunger, honesty, humility and trusting the Lord when overwhelmed; Step 4 topics include addiction as a symptom, facing the past, trusting He will heal, spiritual sickness and resentments; Step 5 topics include confessing to God, focusing on how God sees us, sincerity, prompt confession, stress relief and forsaking sin.
• Example language (illustrative): "Would you bring one of your Step 1 notes next week? I'm interested in what you wrote about what you've been hiding."
• Watch for: writing that becomes self-condemnation; balance with strengths.
• Sources: [source: ARP 2023 Steps 1, 4, 5]. Study topics for Steps 2, 3, 6–8 and 10–12 are [uncertain].

B4. Step 4: the written moral inventory

• Purpose: see weaknesses and barriers clearly, along with strengths, so the person can ask God for help to change; the inventory later feeds Steps 6–9.
• Steps (paraphrased from the guide and the inventory appendix):
  1. Work with a sponsor throughout; begin each writing session with prayer.
  2. Keep it simple; start, even with a plain list of events; spelling and neatness do not matter; get help if writing is hard.
  3. List key incidents, organised by age, school year, homes, relationships, or by brainstorming; keep adding as memories return.
  4. For each, look past the event to thoughts, feelings and beliefs, especially fear, pride, resentment, anger, self-will and self-pity.
  5. Use one of three formats. Worksheet: seven columns filled left to right: the person, institution, situation or principle involved; the effect on security, relationships, self-worth or ambitions; feelings then and now; character weaknesses involved; whom to forgive or make amends to (including oneself); positive traits shown; traits to develop further. Entries can be grouped in age blocks (e.g., 5–10-year spans). Question format: one page per situation with brief answers about what happened, why it bothered them, its effects, feelings, weaknesses involved, who was hurt, attempts to control, playing the victim or needing to be right, whether it was their business, and whether they resisted help. Journal format: pray, write freely, then mark people or events that stir negative feelings, effects, weaknesses and strengths, and whom to forgive or make amends to.
  6. Look at one's own part in each situation, not only others' actions.
  7. Keep the inventory for Steps 6–9; revisit over time. When the time is right, sensitive or angry parts may be destroyed as a symbol of letting go.
• Example language (illustrative): "Let's choose just one incident to start with. What happened, and what did you feel then?"
• Watch for: trauma. The appendix itself warns that remembering abuse or violence can reopen pain and advises a therapist, counsellor or doctor to process it at a safe pace. Clients with abuse histories should not be steered to find "their part" in being abused [synthesis]. Also watch for shame spirals and memory distortion; the appendix suggests sponsor feedback and celebrating progress.
• Sources: [source: ARP 2023 Step 4; Principles to Write an Effective Inventory appendix].

B5. Step 5: confession and sharing the inventory

• Purpose: end secrecy, which the guide sees as what addiction depends on, and open the way to healing and peace.
• Steps (paraphrased): (1) Do Step 5 promptly after Step 4; pray for courage. (2) Confess sins directly to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. (3) Confess more serious transgressions, including anything illegal or anything affecting a temple recommend, to a bishop or branch president, who keeps it confidential and guides repentance. (4) Share the Step 4 inventory with a sponsor, or another person well-grounded in recovery if there is no sponsor; be complete, since partial confession leaves issues unresolved. (5) Afterward, let peace in and do not keep rehearsing the sins.
• Cautions in the guide: avoid listeners who give poor guidance or cannot keep confidences; be careful about sharing inventories with close family; consult a bishop or therapist before deciding whether and when to disclose behaviours to a spouse.
• Example language (illustrative): "Before you talk with your wife, let's think through what she needs to know, what support she'll have, and what you'll do if she's very hurt."
• Watch for: fear of Church discipline driving avoidance or panic; disclosures that trigger mandatory reporting duties for you (see Section 5); compulsive confession in scrupulous clients.
• Sources: [source: ARP 2023 Step 5]. Your role in planning a spouse disclosure is [synthesis] beyond the guide's instruction to consult a bishop or therapist.

B6. Steps 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 12

• Purpose: hope, surrender to God, readiness for change, humble prayer for removal of shortcomings, ongoing daily inventory, prayer and meditation for guidance, and service and sharing the message.
• Steps: the specific 2023 action steps for these chapters are [uncertain]. Read the chapter with the client or ask what it asks them to do. For Step 10, a nightly review of the day and prompt admission of wrongs is the plain meaning of the step; how the guide operationalises it was not verified [uncertain].
• Example language (illustrative): "What does Step 3 ask of you this week, in practical terms?"
• Watch for: passive waiting for God to remove cravings without behavioural plans; offer concrete relapse-prevention strategies alongside, framed respectfully as compatible with faith [synthesis].
• Sources: step wording [source: 2023 table of contents]; key-principle names [source: 2005 table of contents].

B7. Step 8: list of those harmed

• Purpose: identify people owed amends and become willing to make restitution.
• Steps: the Step 8 chapter is [uncertain]. The inventory appendix says the "forgive and make amends" column of Step 4 supplies this list, and the Step 9 chapter refers to recording amends on the Step 4 chart.
• Sources: [source: inventory appendix; ARP 2023 Step 9].

B8. Step 9: making amends

• Purpose: repair harm humbly, seek forgiveness and make restitution without justifying or blaming.
• Steps (paraphrased): (1) Pray about when and how to contact each person; talk first with a sponsor, Church leader or trusted adviser. (2) Explain why you are reaching out; keep the account brief and specific without detailing the addiction. (3) Acknowledge the wrong, ask what would make it right, accept if they decline to talk; avoid excuses, arguing and manipulation; take time before answering hard questions. (4) Consider prayerfully any restitution they ask for. (5) Record date, amends and outcome on the Step 4 chart and review with the sponsor. (6) Where contact would hurt them, is legally barred, or the person is dead or cannot be found, make indirect amends: an undelivered letter of regret, helping someone similar, or anonymous help to their family. (7) For serious matters such as theft or abuse, get ecclesiastical or professional counsel first. (8) Postpone contact while fear or anger remain. (9) Afterward, list the blessings of recovery.
• Example language (illustrative): "What would making this right look like for her, not for you? And what's the risk that contacting her causes more harm?"
• Watch for: amends to someone the client abused or who has a protection order (do not contact; involve legal and professional advice); amends used to seek reassurance; legal exposure from admissions [synthesis].
• Sources: [source: ARP 2023 Step 9].

B9. Sponsorship

• Purpose: guidance through the steps from someone who has walked them.
• Steps: see A5. The sponsor asks questions, points to resources, helps practically with steps, encourages meeting attendance, shares faith and experience and points to the Savior rather than to themselves; keeps confidences and their own boundaries; avoids fostering dependence.
• Sources: [source: Choosing a Sponsor appendix; Administrative Guide].

B10. Spouse and family support groups and the Support Guide

• Purpose: peace and healing for family members through gospel principles. The guide says it is not a step programme.
• Steps: weekly read-and-discuss meetings; 12 chapters with scripture-phrase titles on themes such as consolation, freedom from chains, Christ bearing pains, drawing near to God, self-care, friends' support, gratitude, steadfastness, honesty, strengthening others, patience and peace; each has a key principle with reflection questions, gospel study and personal application; journalling recommended.
• Watch for: see A7.
• Sources: [source: Support Guide introduction; Administrative Guide].

B11. Crisis information and safety procedures in meetings

• Purpose: the meeting script includes suicide-prevention resources (988 in the US; a Canadian line is also listed). Leaders contact authorities in emergencies, report suspected child abuse, risk of harm or alleged misconduct to Family Services, and encourage professional help for persistent struggles.
• Clinician use: do not rely on these; keep your own safety plan with the client [synthesis].
• Sources: [source: Administrative Guide].

5. Handling problems

The Church sources address only a few of these (marked with a source). The rest is [synthesis].

• Client won't go or stops after one meeting. Explore the specific barrier (shame, fear of being recognised, discomfort with prayer and testimony, a bad first group). Offer a phone meeting or a group in another area, a gender-specific group, or a different fellowship. Don't make ARP a condition of therapy. [synthesis; phone meetings and types: source: ARP website]
• Ambivalent, estranged or non-member clients. ARP welcomes anyone, but the content is distinctly Latter-day Saint. If faith is a source of pain or conflict, a secular or general 12-step group may fit better; respect the client's choice either way. [source: ARP website for openness; rest synthesis]
• Shame, scrupulosity and self-condemnation. Watch for confessional language turning into rumination. Use the guide's own counterweights: strengths in the inventory, celebrating progress, and the Step 5 warning against rehearsing sins. Treat obsessive-compulsive scrupulosity clinically; repeated confession can act as reassurance-seeking. [source: inventory appendix; Step 5; clinical framing synthesis]
• Trauma surfacing in Step 4. Slow or pause the written inventory, stabilise, and process trauma in therapy, which the guide itself recommends. Clients who were abused should not be guided to list their "part" in the abuse or to make amends to an abuser. [source: inventory appendix for pacing; rest synthesis]
• Overwhelm during meetings. Remind the client they can pass, step out, or switch to listening only; plan grounding skills in advance. [source: ARP website for passing; rest synthesis]
• Fear about confessing to a bishop. The guide asks for serious transgressions to be confessed to a bishop or branch president. Help the client clarify what they want, their fears and their values; whether and when to confess is the client's religious decision. Don't advise for or against Church processes. [source: Step 5; stance synthesis]
• Disclosure to a spouse. The guide advises consulting a bishop or therapist before disclosing behaviours to a spouse. Plan the content, timing and setting; arrange support for the spouse; consider a structured disclosure in couples or individual sessions; screen for safety first. [source: Step 5; method synthesis]
• Spouse pressure, betrayal trauma or coercion. Refer the spouse to spouse-and-family groups and their own therapy; the Support Guide stresses they are not responsible for the loved one's choices. Screen for intimate-partner violence or coercive control and plan safety; the Support Guide introduction does not cover this. [source: Support Guide introduction; rest synthesis]
• Medically risky substance use. ARP has no medical role. Arrange medical assessment and withdrawal management before or alongside attendance. [synthesis]
• Suicide risk. Meetings read crisis-line information, but leaders are volunteers. Do your own standard risk assessment and safety planning, including lethal-means counselling (safe storage, removal) where indicated, and agree who the client will contact in a crisis. [source: Administrative Guide for meeting script; rest synthesis]
• Abuse or crimes disclosed in step work. Your mandatory reporting duties apply regardless of what is shared with a sponsor or bishop. Separately, ARP leaders must report suspected child abuse or risk of harm through Family Services. For theft or abuse, the Step 9 chapter advises seeking ecclesiastical or professional counsel before amends; also consider legal advice before written or spoken admissions. [source: Administrative Guide; Step 9; rest synthesis]
• Unsafe amends. Do not contact victims who don't want contact or who are protected by a legal order; use the guide's indirect-amends options. [source: Step 9]
• Sponsor problems. If a sponsor gives clinical advice, contradicts medical care, encourages dependence or crosses boundaries, remind the client that the guide says sponsors don't fix, don't replace professionals and can be changed at any time. [source: Choosing a Sponsor appendix]
• Misconduct by a leader or facilitator. Allegations of sexual misconduct must go to Family Services or the area welfare manager; support the client to report and look after their safety. [source: Administrative Guide]
• Disruptive or harmful group dynamics. Leaders first redirect, restate norms and talk privately; online they can mute or remove; persistent problems can lead to a request to stop attending. If your client is the disruptive one, explore it in therapy. [source: Administrative Guide]
• Relapse. No relapse guidance is given in the sources [uncertain]. Frame relapse as information, return to Steps 1 and 10, revisit the inventory for triggers, increase meetings and sponsor contact, and update the relapse-prevention plan. [synthesis]
• Pornography framed as "addiction". Some clients attend because they or others see any use as addiction, even with low frequency. Assess actual compulsivity, distress and functional impairment; explore the moral and religious conflict directly; avoid confirming or rejecting a label before assessment. [synthesis; no source opened on this point; uncertain]
• Under 18. ARP is for adults; a minor is redirected after the first meeting to parents, the bishop and health providers. Refer adolescents to youth-appropriate treatment. [source: Administrative Guide]
• Online confidentiality. Family Services says confidentiality can't be guaranteed online; help the client pick a private space and decide what to share. [source: Administrative Guide]
• Dual relationships. If you are a Church member who also serves as an ARP facilitator or leader, don't facilitate groups your clients attend, and don't bring clinical information into the Church role. [synthesis]
• Therapy replaced by meetings. Keep a shared plan for what belongs in therapy (trauma, comorbidity, medication, couple work) and what belongs in ARP (step work, fellowship, faith). [synthesis]

Sources

Sources:

• Healing through the Savior: The ARP 12-Step Recovery Guide (2023), Step 1
• ARP 12-Step Recovery Guide (2023), Step 4
• ARP 12-Step Recovery Guide (2023), Step 5
• ARP 12-Step Recovery Guide (2023), Step 9
• ARP 12-Step Recovery Guide (2023), Appendix index
• ARP 12-Step Recovery Guide (2023), Choosing a Sponsor
• ARP 12-Step Recovery Guide (2023), Principles to Write an Effective Inventory
• Addiction Recovery Program: A Guide to Addiction Recovery and Healing (2005), table of contents
• Healing through the Savior: ARP Administrative Guide (2018, 2023; v7/23)
• The Addiction Recovery Program, overview (2022)
• What can I expect from a recovery support group? (ARP website)
• Support Guide: Help for Spouses and Family of Those in Recovery (2014), Introduction
• Addiction Recovery: Healing One Step at a Time (Ensign, June 2009)

Further reading (not drawn on) [uncertain]: 2023 guide chapters for Steps 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, the Preface, Introduction, Postface, the "Support in Recovery" and "Recognizing and Welcoming the Newcomer" appendices, and the Support Guide chapters beyond the introduction.

Books cited:

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (2005). Addiction Recovery Program: A Guide to Addiction Recovery and Healing. Salt Lake City: Intellectual Reserve.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (2023). Healing through the Savior: The Addiction Recovery Program 12-Step Recovery Guide. Salt Lake City: Intellectual Reserve.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (2014). Support Guide: Help for Spouses and Family of Those in Recovery. Salt Lake City: Intellectual Reserve.