We just suggest that, if you want to stop drinking, you try doing what we did. Many of us had no idea what to expect of our 5 types of alcoholics first meeting. For some of us the idea was quite scary, so we were greatly relieved to find that our fears were groundless.
Notable people who have attended AA
- AA members, often referred to simply as “members,” are individuals from various walks of life who have acknowledged their alcohol use disorder and are committed to quitting drinking.
- Step (ST), Tradition(TR), Literature (LIT) or Big Book (B).
- And remember, if you can’t find a 12 step meeting that meets your needs, start one.
- After the readings and prayer, what happens at the meeting will depend on what type of AA meeting it is.
- You can leave the room with a sense that no matter how scary life seems, things will work out if you just keep trudging the road of happy destiny a day at a time.
- The real miracle is that these people are happier than they ever were when they drank.
Everywhere you go there are AA meetings where only women or men are allowed. You will also find many meetings that are gay, and some gay men’s meetings. This is to create safety when sharing about gender-specific issues. For instance, a member may be going through a heartbreaking divorce or having a problem in their marriage or another romantic relationship.
Attend The Meeting
As a valuable privacy principle for new and longtime members might be read. Many meetings close with members joining in a moment of silence followed by a prayer, or perhaps by reciting the Responsibility Statement or other A.A. At both types of meetings, it may be requested that participants confine their discussion to matters pertaining to recovery from alcoholism.
Common Meeting Formats
Choosing between open and closed meetings really depends on what you need. If you’re looking for a focused meeting where you can be open and vulnerable, closed meetings might be for you. Both open and closed meetings are helpful and effective in their own way.
Meeting | Alcoholics Anonymous, /information-about-meetings. AA meetings can be spiritually inclined, but they are not inherently so. The degree of spirituality in an AA meeting largely depends on the group’s format and the preferences of its members. This confidentiality fosters trust, honesty, and openness among members, enabling them to share their struggles and experiences without fear of exposure or judgment from the outside world. With its emphasis on responsibility and perseverance and communities in virtually every corner of the world, the Twelve Steps have become synonymous with recovery from addictions of all kinds.
Difference between Open and Closed AA Meetings from Members
You must have a drinking problem to be a member of AA. At discussion meetings, one member shares their experience, strength and hope briefly before opening the meeting for others to share. Once you’ve gotten up to speed on how to talk about AA and 12-step meetings at a high level, you’ll need to learn how to interpret the things people say in the meetings. Usually, a 12-step meeting consists of the group listening to a series of individuals talk about their progress or their past.
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Background for many topic meetings derives from A.A. Literature, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book), Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, As Bill Sees It, Daily Reflections, and from AA Grapevine. Meetings and each meeting takes on the feel of their local area. At most meetings you will hear members talk about what drinking did to them and to those around them.
We provide extensive resources tohelp identify and alter harmful behavioral patterns, fostering a robust approach to conquer thecomplexities of alcohol addiction. Speaker meetings are where there is a guest speaker who talks to the group. The speaker is invariably somebody with a few years or even decades sober. You may find yourself leaving the speaker meeting with the feeling that you just enjoyed a standup comedy act.