Latter-day Saint Addiction Recovery Program

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community

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…

Format

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

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• see A7. Sources:.
• step work being used as self-punishment; therapy turning into a Church lesson.
• a partner being pressured to forgive quickly; violence or coercive control. Sources:.
• a story of rejection or judgement that the client generalises to everyone; sudden enthusiasm that replaces therapy.
• online groups: Family Services says it cannot guarantee confidentiality online, so the client needs a private room. Sources:.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.