Mutual help groups hold meetings where addicts join together to offer each other mutual support. Through sharing common experiences and the methods used to overcome hurdles the group shares its collective wisdom through its members. In addition being a member of such a group lessens the experience of isolation that many addicts feel and helps provide a measure of social support. Attendance at a mutual help group is highly recommended after completing drug rehab in South Africa.

The twelve-step groups are arguably the best known mutual help groups. The 12 step program is a set of suggested actions for finding recovery from addiction or other compulsive problems. It was originally developed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) but has been adapted for thousands of other groups focused on other addictions (eg: Narcotics Anonymous). The program can be broken down into a few phases:

• admitting that the addiction or compulsion has caused problems in life and reached uncontrollable proportions;
• recognizing that something greater than yourself can help you find recovery;
• taking stock of your past behaviour and acknowledging your defects;
• taking action to correct defects and making amends for past damage to other people;
• trying to employ a new way of living in daily life;
• freely helping others who are struggling with addiction.

These are the original Twelve Steps as published by Alcoholics Anonymous

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His Will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Although the 12 steps make specific reference to "God" no particular religious understanding is implied by this and members of all religions (and atheists) attend 12 step meetings side by side.

Additional Resources

• 12step.com is a site dedicated to discussion of the 12 step program.
• Analysis of Electronic Support Groups for Recovering Addicts is a review study of how electronically mediated recovery communities function.
• Sobriety & Recovery Resources is a resource site linking to support meetings and containing personal experiences of addicts.
• Marijuana Anonymous is a 12 step fellowship for people addicted to marijuana.
• Al-Anon-Alateen is a fellowship for family members affected by an alcoholic.
• Secular Organizations for Sobriety is a group promoting a scientific approach to alcoholism as opposed to the spiritual approach of the 12 step program.
• Pills Anonymous is a 12 step fellowship for prescription pill addicts.
• 12 Step Meetings.com provides a collation of meeting lists for many fellowships in America and beyond.
• Recovery Online is a resource site linking to many recovery support networks for a spectrum of addictions.
• AA at the Crossroads is an article examining the history and future of AA.
• Women for Sobriety is a non-profit group focused on providing support to women alcoholics in need of treatment.
• CyberSober is an online map directory for twelve step meetings and includes electronic recovery community resources.
• SMART Recovery is a group promoting cognitive therapy as a way to promote empowerment of addicts to prevent relapse.
• Online AA Resources is an online resource listing many meetings, gatherings, and searchable online AA literature.
• Moderation Management is a group that promotes trying to help alcoholics to drink in moderation.
• Staying Cyber - AA Meetings Online is an online AA meeting that allows free participation.
• Psychological Self-Help is an e-book that guides people through a process of self-help.
• Cocaine Anonymous World Services Online is the service body for the CA fellowship. It includes a self-assessment to help you decide if you have a cocaine addiction.
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a Cult ? is an essay critical of the AA mutual help fellowship.