AA Step 6: Be Ready to Have God Remove All These Defects of Character

Support groups can be a helpful way for people to continue to work on their recovery from alcohol misuse and addiction. Research has shown that attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings and working through the Steps can be effective for achieving and maintaining sobriety.¹ This article will help you understand AA Step 6.

What Is Step 6 of AA?

During Step 6 of AA, program participants are “entirely ready to have God remove all … defects of character.”² Step 6 is outlined in AA’s book, 12 Steps and 12 Traditions, and is not a lone event that you complete for good, but rather a step that you may return to as you progress in your recovery.^{2, 3}

Step 6 can be challenging; however, you don’t have to turn over your defects to the higher power of your understanding, but rather, simply become willing to do so.² According to AA, a person who reaches this Step has made tremendous progress just by developing the insight and readiness to ask God or their higher power to remove their character flaws and shortcomings.² This is an important moment in recovery that people have worked toward by completing the previous Steps.

What Is the Purpose of Step 6 of AA?

The purpose of Step 6 of AA is to become willing to look honestly at yourself and develop the readiness to turn over your character defects and flaws to your higher power.² Among the goals is developing the healthiest attitude you can about your shortcomings so you can make progress in building your character throughout your recovery.²

Step 6 is based on the ideas that you have:⁴

• Admitted that you have an alcohol problem (Step 1).
• Developed faith in a higher power of your own understanding (Step 2).
• Decided to turn your problem over to your higher power (Step 3).
• Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of your defects and flaws (Step 4).
• Admitted to God, yourself, and another person the exact nature of your wrongs (Step 5).
• Are now ready to work on becoming willing to ask God or your higher power to remove those flaws and shortcomings (Step 6).

How to Complete Step 6 of AA

By completing the previous Steps, you have set the stage for Step 6. When you’re ready, you may receive a worksheet from your AA group about how to complete Step 6 of AA. You’ll also likely work with your sponsor to discuss your specific challenges and concerns about this Step.

Below is a basic framework for how people might go about completing Step 6 of AA:

1. Look at yourself honestly and review the defects and flaws you examined in Step 4.⁴
2. Ask yourself about your fears or negative emotions about letting these go. Do you feel that there might be character flaws that still somehow serve you? You might wish to discuss this with your sponsor or therapist.²
3. Try to develop an attitude of acceptance and view these defects as shortcomings that you can work on and that your higher power can remove—remember, the term “defect” does not mean that you are inherently defective as a person.²
4. Understand that Step 6 is an ongoing process, so you should not pressure yourself or expect that you’ll finish it in one attempt. The important thing is to make a start at it and keep trying throughout your recovery.²
5. Be open-minded and patient, and practice self-care throughout this process.² As with the other Steps, Step 6 can be confrontational, so try to maintain a sense of trust and confidence in the program.
6. Talk to your sponsor or therapist when necessary.

How Step 6 of AA Fits Into Your Recovery Journey

As mentioned above, people work through the previous Steps to eventually develop the willingness to ask God or their higher power to remove the desire and “mania” for alcohol from their lives.²

Step 5 sets the stage for Step 6 because you first need to admit your flaws to yourself, God, and another person to ask God or the higher power of your understanding to remove them.⁴ Similarly, this Step leads to Step 7, which is where you humbly ask God or your higher power “to remove (y)our shortcomings” so that obstacles to your recovery can be released.⁴

How to Find a 12-Step AA Program

Many people learn about or join AA during rehab as a part of group therapy sessions or group meetings. For example, many rehabs offer 12-Step facilitation therapy to help people become familiar with and motivated to enter AA, and many rehabs also offer onsite 12-Step groups.⁵ Additionally, people can find a 12-Step AA program through AA’s website, which offers contact information for AA resources, including a meeting list in your area.

AA and other self-help groups are also often used as aftercare, which refers to an approach that can help you solidify and work on the skills you learned during rehab.⁶ Aftercare can support your recovery and may include other interventions, such as individual therapy, regular check-ins, or sober living.⁷

Start Your Recovery

Whether you or someone you love are interested in joining or are already a member of a 12-Step program, you may also benefit from rehab. Rehab can involve different levels of care, such as:⁸

• Medical detox, which can help you stop drinking alcohol or using substances more comfortably and safely while under medical guidance and supervision.
• Inpatient drug and alcohol rehab, where you’ll live onsite at a rehab facility and receive structured care, monitoring, and support while participating in different therapies.
• Outpatient addiction treatment programs, where you’ll live at home but travel to a treatment center on a regular schedule to participate in rehab programming.
• Intensive outpatient addiction treatment programs, which are more supportive outpatient programs involving 9 to 20 hours of weekly treatment.
• Partial hospitalization rehab programs, which are highly supportive outpatient programs offering 4 to 8 hours of daily treatment.
• Rehab aftercare, which is designed to offer ongoing recovery support after completing a formal treatment program.

Learn More About AA

• Step 1
• Step 2
• Step 3
• Step 4
• Step 5
• Step 7
• Step 8
• Step 9
• Step 10
• Step 11
• Step 12
• AA Big Book
• AA Promises