The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers a 12-step-based Addiction Recovery Program. Learn how it works and how it can complement clinical treatment.
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers an Addiction Recovery Program that combines a 12-step framework with LDS spiritual principles. This article explains how the program works and how faith-based support can fit alongside clinical treatment — it describes the program's structure without endorsing or opposing its religious content.
Key Takeaways on the LDS Addiction Recovery Program
- The program is structured around a 12-step framework adapted with LDS spiritual principles and language.
- It's designed to address a range of addictive behaviors, not exclusively substance use.
- Faith-based recovery support can complement, but generally shouldn't replace, clinical addiction treatment for diagnosable substance use disorder.
- Choosing a recovery path — faith-based, clinical, or combined — is a personal decision based on individual values and needs.
What the Program Involves
The LDS Addiction Recovery Program follows a 12-step model similar in structure to other 12-step programs, incorporating LDS religious principles and terminology throughout. It's offered through local congregations and designed to be accessible to both members and non-members struggling with addictive behaviors.
How It's Structured
- Group meetings — regular gatherings for shared support and step work, similar in format to other 12-step programs.
- Step-based framework — a sequential structure addressing acknowledgment, accountability, and spiritual growth.
- Community support — connection with others navigating similar struggles within a shared faith context.
- Accessibility — generally offered at no cost through local congregations.
Faith-Based Support Alongside Clinical Treatment
For people whose spiritual life is central to their identity, faith-based recovery frameworks can provide meaningful community and structure. However, for diagnosable substance use disorder — particularly involving physical dependence — clinical treatment (medical detox, therapy, and when appropriate, medication) addresses the physiological and psychological aspects that a peer support framework alone isn't designed to treat. Many people find the strongest outcomes combining both.
Choosing the Right Path for You
Recovery isn't one-size-fits-all, and combining spiritual support with clinical treatment is a legitimate, common approach — not an either-or choice. If you're weighing faith-based support alongside clinical care, discussing that combination openly with a treatment provider helps ensure both pieces work together rather than at cross purposes. Lantana Recovery's treatment programs are designed to complement, not conflict with, a person's existing faith or community support structures. Our outpatient and PHP programs can be structured around continued participation in a faith-based recovery community.
FAQ: The LDS Addiction Recovery Program
Is the LDS Addiction Recovery Program only for church members?
Can faith-based recovery replace clinical treatment?
Is it common to combine faith-based and clinical recovery approaches?
Bottom Line
The LDS Addiction Recovery Program offers a structured, faith-based 12-step path that can provide meaningful community for those whose spirituality is central to their recovery. For substance use disorder specifically, pairing it with clinical treatment often provides the most complete support. Other free educational resources can round out a faith-based approach, including free recovery literature by mail and structured recovery lesson plans. A sober living environment can also reinforce the same community-centered structure many find in a faith-based program.
Sources
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Addiction Recovery Programhttps://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/self-reliance/addiction-recovery
- SAMHSA — The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Recoveryhttps://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
Reviewed by
Warren PhillipsCo-Founder, LMSW · Editorial Reviewer
Warren Phillips is a Co-Founder of Lantana Recovery and a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) specializing in substance abuse and mental health treatment. He previously worked in various capacities at Turnbridge Addiction Treatment and Clearpoint Recovery Center before co-founding Lantana Recovery. Warren's clinical approach draws on a strengths-based perspective, Twelve Step philosophies, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing. He brings both personal and professional experience to his work — as a person in long-term recovery from alcohol and illicit substances, he has used that experience to help shape Lantana's treatment programming. Warren grew up in Memphis, TN and St. Louis, MO, attended college in Mississippi, and lived in California and Connecticut before relocating to Charleston. He now lives in Mount Pleasant with his wife, Angela, and their two young children, Hall and Sam.
Written by the Lantana Recovery Editorial Team and reviewed for clinical accuracy before publication.
