Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the  exact nature of our wrongs.

Admitting your past secrets to yourself often takes place as you write your inventory in Step Four, if you are truly fearless and thorough when writing it. Admitting your powerlessness, your need to be restored to sanity, your profound amazement at your poor choices, and your sincere sense of having failed yourself, is probably the most humbling experience you will have with regard to your sense of who you are. It is at this point that the recovery of your true self is able to take an upward turn, without the overwhelming sense of shame or guilt that has been so closely bound to you in the past. You are now able to begin a more shame-free life, which empowers you to experience the most essential part of Step Five—being able to reveal yourself to another human being.