Special 12-Step Workshops

Sunrise Ranch has been treating male clients who are suffering from addiction and alcoholism for almost ten years and also has the benefit of twenty three years of experience gained in belonging to the network of Sober Living by the Sea Treatment Facilities. Sunrise Recovery Ranch has found that the most effective method to treat our drug and alcohol dependent clients is to integrate the 12-step recovery model with experiential therapy, one-on-one and group counseling, and numerous esteem building outdoor activities. Sunrise Recovery Ranch embraces traditional 12-step recovery principles by transporting clients to local Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as well as hosting support meetings on site at the ranch.

Sunrise Recovery Ranch also facilitates our clients to pursue the steps through action and goal setting. Since many of our residents are interested in working beyond step 4 of the 12 steps during their stay here, Sunrise Ranch offers a unique opportunity for clients towork with our spiritual advisor in a private fully confidential setting.Our spiritual advisor, Timothy Bernardy, works with one resident at a time, guiding the recovering man through steps five, six, seven, and eight. For many clients, the highlight of the Sunrise Ranch experience is this personal and confidential “Steps 5 through 8 Workshop”

Timothy Bernardy is a legendary and spiritual advisor who has performed over five hundred of these personal step workshops. It is often heard in recovery circles that it was the completion of steps 5 through 8 that really set a man free from the obsession to continue drinking or using drugs. Timothy Bernardy is a well regarded 12-step facilitator with a history of helping men through the 12-Steps.

The “Steps 5 through 8 Workshop” at Sunrise Recovery Ranch has a remarkably memorable effect on residents and strengthens the foundation of their new start on recovery. Many men who continue on to extended care at Sober Living by the Sea after primary care at Sunrise Ranch will return to the Ranch just to meet with Tim Bernardy and complete the “Steps 5 through 8 Workshop” (transportation between the two locations can usually be arranged by working with the client’s case manager).

Here are Steps 5 through 8:

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.

While many men see these steps and find them confusing or overwhelming, other men who have worked a successful program of recovery know that the secret is not in the words that define the steps, but the action taken in working them (when guided by a trusted advisor like Timothy Bernardy).

The process of working steps 5 through 8 involves sharing a moral inventory, working with character defects and making an amends list of people that the recovering man has harmed.

About eighty percent of Sunrise Ranch residents choose to participate in the crucial and rewarding “Steps 5 through 8 Workshop” during their stay, and this can greatly increase their chance of long term sobriety.