Alcoholics Anonymous is the parent of all 12-step, self-help recovery groups. Founded by the late stockbroker William G. Wilson and physician Robert H. Smith, its principles for recovery from addiction are based on 12 steps, which include the acknowledgment of a “higher power,” meeting attendance and peer sponsorship. AA’s worldwide membership is 2 million.

Ruben Martinez is a writer, performer and teacher and the son of immigrants — his father is from Mexico, and his mother from El Salvador. Martinez is the author of The New Americans, which tells the stories of seven immigrant families and is the companion book to a PBS series on immigration from 2003. He also wrote Crossing […]

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deals with substance abuse and mental health issues together. Its mission is to build resilience and facilitate recovery for people with or at risk for substance abuse and mental illness. It provides more than $1.6 billion to support states’ efforts […]

Read a 2005 Science Direct Study that found spirituality and mindfulness effective treatments of disorders and addictions.

The Rev. Harold Recinos is a professor of church and society at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology in Dallas. He has worked with immigrants in the United States and abroad and studies issues related to immigrants and refugees in the United States.

Nestor Rodriguez is a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. He can speak about the impact of the 1996 immigration act and about migrant deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Read a 2004 article in Science & Theology News about the effects of compassionate love, altruism and spirituality in 12-step programs, and their effect on the health of recovering alcoholics.

Dan Cornfield is a sociology professor at Vanderbilt University. He has studied the experience of Latino and other immigrants in midsized U.S. cities such as Nashville.

Get a historical perspective on “Faith-Based Recovery: Its Historical Roots” in a 2005 article in Counselor: The Magazine for Addiction Professionals.