~~ THE GA RECOVERY PROGRAM. ~~

This program consist of the twelve steps of recovery which are based on practical experience and insights developed over many years.

Most importantly, the twelve steps of recovery works, and they are therefore cornerstone upon which the fellowship is built. Although GA is not a religious organization, the recovery program is based on certain spiritual values and concepts. The recovery program is based on the faith that the compulsive gamblers can be helped by yielding to a force greater than themselves, be it GOD, the fellowship or both.

GA can be described as a spiritual fellowship because it asks its members to have faith and to develop the highest and finest qualities of human character. Such virtues as kindness, honesty, humility, empathy, generosity and integrity are advocated as the best principles for a new way of life. Through practicing these virtues members have learned to strive for spiritual progress as the means for person recovery and for the perpetuation of the Fellowship. There is no short cut for building a new life. Rehabilitation takes time, and also because of our need to be ever vigilant against the impulse to gamble - - so participation in the fellowship is an ongoing commitment.

The GA way of life is far from being confined to weekly group meeting. We need to live in this spiritual way of life.

Perseverance is the key to Recovery.
Recovery = Achieving Abstinence + Change.

Note that even if an individual attends the GA meetings but continues to gamble, the disease will still progress. Recovery takes much more work and self-discipline than that to which the compulsive gambler has been accustomed. Commitment to the GA way of life demands a complete reversal of both values and habits. Vigilance is substituted for complacency , for as we have said, anything other than assertive action leads to regression.

It is important to remember that the desire to stop gambling is usually a tremendous motivation to attend meetings and to adhere to the recovery program. As the member makes progress in the program, the desire to gamble gradually subsides. The individual eventually reaches a point where a return to gambling is unconscionable. This is the stage also where many members begin to like themselves. A whole new personality emerges as the members strives toward growth and maturity.