Twelve-Step Facilitation (TSF) is a form of psychotherapy directly adapted from AA. The primary goals are acceptance and surrender.

Acceptance is defined “as the breakdown of the illusion that the individual, through willpower alone, can effectively and reliably limit or control his/her use of alcohol and/or other drugs” (Nowinski J & Baker S. Twelve-Step Facilitation Handbook. Center City, MN: Hazelden;2013:1).

Surrender, on the other hand, “involves a willingness to reach out beyond oneself and to follow the program laid out in the 12 steps” (Nowinski & Baker, op.cit). Stated more concretely, TSF is designed to facilitate involvement in AA.

The TSF treatment manual from Project MATCH is now in the public domain (http://1.usa.gov/1rzhnUL). Clinicians can easily incorporate material from it into their patient encounters.