Step 5

I do step 5 the same way with Sponsees I did it with my sponsor. 2 hour sessions weekly (sometimes more frequently) until its done. Step 5 is very cool really. Very powerful. A cool old timer called it 'Spiritual surgery'. It is! You are literally 'cutting out' the putrefied 'stinking thinking' that has accumulated over the course of lifetime. If resentment had a physical appearance It would look like like a tumor. Black sticky tar, clinging to our internal energy centers. Whatever. I digress. But basically, step 5, if done well, is VERY cool. If done well, it is a SIGNIFICANT emotional plateau of safety (in comparison to what the person was like before) when finished.

Step 4 and 5 ( for me) are not about 'life stories' as such. I get 'briefed' on the ? overall history in Step 1, so I know most of the 'stuff' LONG before step 5. Step 5 is a place to look at resentments, not personal hstory. That's all.

Did you know step 4 and 5 messes with your head? Well it does. I always suggest that Sponsees just don't try to figure anything out till AFTER step 5. It'll feel better then.

If you are in the middle of step 5, I don't want to say something that increases any sense of uncertainty, as that tends to increase anyway during step 5, so just keep plugging away and soon it will be all over.
It's best to ignore what gremlin-ish ideas it comes up with till the step5 is well and truly DONE.
The uncertainty and discomfort will pass. don't you worry..