Wellbriety is a Native American practice for addiction treatment that focuses on traditional medicine, spirituality, and development in the community. Wellbriety is an indigenous word translating to “balanced being”. To have an effective wellbriety experience and see a change in addictive habits, people going through the program must understand why they abused the substance in the first place, process the grief and trauma, and adapt to healthy habits and rituals. When looking at what is wellbriety, it’s important to ask what it means in a broader sense. Wellbriety means that you’re working toward being sober and healthy, living a healthy lifestyle, and living by the values, laws, and traditional culture principles. There are 12 steps of wellbriety, which are:
1. Honesty
2. Hope
3. Letting Go
4. Facing the Past
5. Sharing the Truth
6. Willingness
7. Humility
8. Making Amends
9. Continuing the Journey
10. Spiritual Connection
11. Awakened Power
12. Service

History of Wellbriety
When answering what is wellbriety, you must consider the historical background of how the movement became and how it popularized over the years. The history of wellbriety comes from Don Coyhis, who lived in the Mohican nation and founded the movement in 1988. He taught wellbriety to others of the tribe through spiritual methods that had personally helped him with his alcohol addiction. This specific indigenous movement helped his daughter get sober after having a history of meth addiction.

Since starting the movement, Don Coyhis had created a nonprofit, White Bison, that focused on the teachings and practices of wellbriety. The nonprofit organization is based in Colorado Springs and offers in-person and virtual meetings. This movement is specific to people part of the Indigenous community but can also be used by people outside of it. Indigenous people have the highest rate of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine addictions.