12-Step Facilitation Therapy (TSF)
Therapy for Alcohol and Substance Use Recovery in Greenacres, and Online Across Florida
What is 12-Step Facilitation?
Twelve-Step Facilitation (TSF) is a fancy way of saying that your addictions therapist believes in the efficacy of 12-step programs and encourages you to seek out and participate in the 12-step recovery program of your choice.
Twelve-step programs are an abstinence-based approach to recovery that involves:
a desire to stop using one’s drug(s) of choice.
a willingness to work the twelve steps with a sponsor.
a willingness to participate in a peer-led recovery support community.
Evidence-Based Therapy
You might be surprised to learn that according to the research, TSF outperforms other treatment methods in maintaining abstinence from substance use and other addictions. As an addictions counselor, I have seen first-hand how TSF helps my clients navigate the 12-step recovery world.
Twelve-step programs can be powerful — but they can also feel confusing or overwhelming at first. Without guidance, it’s easy to disengage too quickly, misunderstand key concepts, or miss what could actually help. Professional help using TSF gives you a safe and non-judgmental place to ask questions, talk about your reactions, and make informed decisions about your recovery.
Maybe you’ve already tried 12-step recovery and you had a bad experience. If that’s you, I want you to consider something. This is kind of big picture thing. Meetings (aka “The Rooms”) are a microcosm of society. In the world outside the Rooms, you encounter all sorts of people — nice, mean, principled, unprincipled, stable, and struggling.
The people in recovery meetings are as different from each other as the people you meet in the world outside meetings. The same is true of the meetings themselves. They differ in tone, format, and even priorities. There are hundreds of thousands of meetings, and if you draw a conclusion based on just a few, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Most people become socially isolated in active addiction, and it can be difficult to interact with people once you get sober. It is scary work learning to get vulnerable, learning to trust, and learning to show up as your authentic self. But as a clinician who’s treated hundreds of people in recovery — and who is also in long-term recovery — I’ve been there and done that, and I can tell you with 100% certainty that it is work worth doing.
Therapy Versus Sponsorship
You may be curious how having a therapist who uses TSF is different from having a 12-step sponsor. There is a key difference. A sponsorship relationship is a personal relationship. And while connection is an important aspect of your relationship with me as your therapist, our relationship is a professional relationship, not a personal one. Your confidentiality is protected in therapy by law. In therapy, you’re able to talk about the things you might not feel comfortable sharing with a sponsor, a friend, or a family member.
Here’s another key distinction. In twelve-step recovery, we have a saying, “I’m not going to work harder at your recovery than you do.” That’s something you might hear from a 12-step sponsor. As your therapist, I believe it is my job to work harder at your recovery than you do — right up until the point when you have reached your therapeutic goals and feel ready to be discharged from therapy.
How Does 12-Step Facilitation Work?
One Tool in Your Recovery Toolbox
12-step facilitation isn’t about pushing you into a 12-step program. It’s about helping you understand how 12-step recovery actually works so you can make informed decisions about your recovery. You can decide whether the 12-step community fits your recovery by trying out some of the over thirty 12-step fellowships out there. Yes, there are that many! Seriously, it’s not just AA and NA. Those two are just the most widely known.
You may choose to explore 12-step recovery and you may not. If you do, I will help you engage with it more effectively. If you don’t, we’ll find other approaches that work for you.
Clients often wonder: “Will you tell me which 12-step progam to join?”
Not me. There are treatment facilities and treatment staff who will advocate for one program over another. But as a licensed therapist, it’s not my place to promote a particular fellowhsip or tell you that one is better than another. If I did that, I’d be imposing my preferences on you. My job isn’t to chose one for you, or even to recommend a particular program. My job is to help you figure out how to use 12-step recovery as one tool among many and add it to your life in a way that makes sense to you. Instead of making a recommendation, I provide you with psychoeducation on the different options that are out there and help you sort through the elements of each that appeal to you. This is what 12-step recovery programs call “attraction rather than promotion.”
Lived Experience
As a person in long-term recovery, I have participated in several 12-step programs. That experience gives me a frame of reference beyond my clinical training and equips me to answer your questions about how these programs work. Using TSF, I will guide you in learning about the multitude of recovery programs out there so you can choose one that interests and excites you. And if you decide that 12-step recovery is not your jam, we’ll find you a recovery community that is. There are plenty of those too.
You get to ask me questions.
Therapy is a nonjudgmental space where you get to ask the questions you might not feel confident or even comfortable asking at a meeting, such as:
How do I find a sponsor?
What the hell do I talk about with people when I call those phone numbers I get at meetings?
What’s a spiritual principle?
What’s the point of getting a home group?
What does it mean to “work the steps”?
Are 12-step programs really cults in disguise?
What We Actually Do In Sessions
If you’re interested in exploring 12-step recovery, we might:
talk through your experiences at meetings.
process what felt useful and what didn’t.
clarify common concepts, language, and expectations.
identify ways to get more out of the meetings you attend.
address any resistance, uncertainty, or frustration that comes up.
You’ll also have access to readings, recordings, meeting resources, tips on how to build a sober support network, and structured ways to reflect on your experiences and get professional feedback. You’ll have a personalized, private digital library to help you stay on track in between sessions, and you’ll be able to access it 24/7. That digital library can be your 3am touchstone when you need to remind yourself why you’re doing this.
Some weeks you’ll ask me for assignments to work on, and some weeks you’ll just want to talk. That’s how therapy works, and you’ll never get grief from me on the weeks when you just want to talk. This is a guilt-free zone. Our sessions move at your pace, so if life gets in the way of outside tasks and you don't get to the between-session work, we will just adapt. In recovery, we call that “life on life’s terms.”
When you do want something to work on between sessions, the assignments I give you will help you understand and apply what you’re learning in real life. But you’ll still have me there with you in session so you don’t have to adjust to all these changes on your own. Embracing a recovery lifestyle is a huge change for most people, and you’re not expected to feel comfortable with it overnight.
How It Helps: The Benefits of 12-Step Facilitation
Recovery doesn’t happen in isolation. TSF gives you access to a community-based layer of support alongside therapy. Inserting yourself into that community can be scary and strange. Talking about getting sober with a bunch of people you’ve just met doesn’t feel natural. We start by acknowledging that, and then I’ll show you how to get over that hump.
The work we do in therapy helps you make sense out of suddenly getting vulnerable with new people. You’ll learn to view trust as something other than an either/or construct. When you do, you’re able to carry that understanding into all kinds of interactions, repairing and improving the relationships that matter to you.
This kind of work helps you:
make sense of what you’re hearing in meetings.
decide what parts of the program resonate and what don’t.
build consistency if you choose to participate.
integrate recovery tools into your daily life.
Who Does 12-Step Facilitation Work Best For?
You’ve thought about getting help. And now you’re somewhere in the middle — curious, unsure, and not wanting to waste time and energy on something that doesn’t fit.
Maybe you’ve looked into 12-step meetings.
Maybe you’ve gone to a few and you weren’t sure what to make of them.
Maybe you’ve heard strong opinions — some positive, some not.
Maybe you’re turned off by “the God thing.”
Twelve-step facilitation will resonate with you if you are curious about 12-step recovery but unsure where to start, have tried meetings but didn’t fully connect with them, want support integrating recovery work into your daily life, prefer having a professional space to process what you’re experiencing, or want structure without feeling forced into a specific path.
Why I Specialize in 12-Step Facilitation
I have incorporated 12-Step Facilitation into my practice because the research shows that it works. There’s a great book about that research I can recommend if you’re interested. I’ve had years of experience using TSF to help clients find lasting recovery from substance use, reduce the anxiety that often precedes or results from substance use, and finally get a chance to focus on personal growth and self-actualization.
As a person with lived experience in long term recovery, I’ve seen firsthand how the 12 Steps, 12 Traditons, and 12 Concepts can turn a life around. I firmly believe I’m alive today because of the love, support, and lessons I’ve received from the twelve-step community. In my work, I've witnessed the incredible transformation that occurs in my clients’ lives when the extra support they receive in therapy helps them feel comfortable and excited about participating in 12-step recovery.
How 12-Step Facilitation Fits into My Overall Approach
12-step facilitation is one of several tools we can use in recovery work. The goal is to build a recovery approach that is sustainable, flexible, and tailored to you. It’s often combined with:
Take the first step.
If you’re considering 12-step recovery — or trying to make sense of it — this work gives you a way to explore it without pressure and with more clarity. If you’re looking for a therapist who can help you, reach out with questions or schedule your first appointment.
My Office
My Hours
12:00PM-9:00PM Seven Days a Week
Video sessions on Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays only. Phone and text-based therapy seven days a week.