Steps 2 & 3 with Ryan O'Hara | RecoverEDSteps 2 & 3 with Ryan O'Hara | RecoverED
The Magdalen House Podcast
Ryan O’Hara shares candid stories of his alcoholism and relapse to explain how Steps 2 and 3 helped him shift faith from alcohol to a higher power. The conversation focuses on willingness, prayer, and daily decisions as the core of early recovery.
50:03•21 Oct 2026
Ryan O’Hara on Steps 2 & 3: From Self-Will to Trusting a Higher Power
Episode Overview
- Accepting Step 1 and truly believing “I am an alcoholic” is essential before meaningful progress on other steps.
- Faith can begin simply by seeing the recovery programme working in other alcoholics and being willing to believe it could work for you.
- A personal concept of God can be built by identifying the qualities you want in a higher power and discarding those that cause fear.
- Step 3 is less about a dramatic spiritual experience and more about a daily decision to trust God and work the remaining steps.
- Regular prayer, focusing on others rather than self, helps shift from selfishness and fear towards peace of mind and usefulness.
“Faith without works is dead.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of how the Twelve Steps can reshape a life broken by alcoholism. This RecoverED conversation centres on Ryan O’Hara, a recovered alcoholic and programme coordinator at The Magdalen House men’s facility, as he walks through his experience of Steps 1, 2 and 3 from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Ryan starts by grounding everything in Step 1: admitting he’s a "real alcoholic" who has "lost the power of choice in drink." He shares powerful stories, like swearing off alcohol while in jail, only to say yes to a drink moments after release without any real thought of "the suffering and humiliation" he’d caused.
His relapse after five and a half years sober underlines his message that alcoholism is "progressive, chronic" and that believing you’re "back to normal" can be dangerous. From there, the episode shifts into Step 2: coming to believe in a power greater than yourself. Ryan explains how seeing "well Alcoholics" laughing and living full lives gave him a first dose of faith.
For anyone sceptical or angry at God, he suggests starting small: "Do you see this program working in others?" If the answer is yes, that tiny bit of trust can be the beginning of change. Step 3 becomes less about a dramatic spiritual moment and more about daily action.
Ryan describes turning his will and life over to the care of God by treating the Third Step as a decision to work the rest of the steps, backed up by prayer and service. He jokes that alcohol isn’t his main problem anymore – "selfishness and self-centredness" are – and talks about how praying for others and doing "the next right thing" bring him peace of mind.
You’ll come away with a clearer picture of how faith, meetings and honest self-examination can support early recovery. Could a simple willingness to believe in something beyond yourself be the next step you take?
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