I run through the Steps regularly, and, recently, when I was part-way through Step Five, I started laughing, saying, 'This does not paint me in a very good light at all!' My interlocutor said: 'Yes. You've got a lot to work on.' That's the necessary slap.
At the end, he said that he identified with almost 100% on there. I asked which the defect was for which he could say, 'At least I don't do that.' He told me, and I explained what was meant by the defect, and he corrected himself, 'Oh, I do do that.'
The two takeaways:
1. There's a lot to work on.
2. We're all in it together.