What is AA?

Specialized meetings cater to specific demographics or needs within the AA community. Examples include meetings for young adults, LGBTQ+ individuals, women, or professionals. These meetings offer inspiration, hope, and a connection with someone who has successfully overcome alcoholism. They work well for newcomers seeking motivation and guidance. Members attend AA meetings to discuss their struggles, receive support, and offer support to others, creating a nurturing and empathetic community dedicated to achieving and maintaining sobriety.

• This often includes “working the 12 steps” with a supportive sponsor.
• Given the number of individuals struggling with or at risk for an AUD, it is understandable that AA has grown to what it is today—an organization with more than 115,000 groups worldwide.
• There are many opportunities to participate in a variety of ways.
• Still, due to its anonymous and voluntary nature, AA’s success cannot be measured with exact statistics.
• We try to keep these facts fresh in our thinking at all times because they seem to be the key to our sobriety.

Sobriety in AA: We made changes to stop drinking

“I think it is the power of peers,” says John Kelly, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Kelly led a 2020 analysis that reviewed the scientific evidence of AA’s effectiveness across 35 studies — involving the work of 145 scientists and the outcomes of 10,080 participants. Hosted by therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast, featuring multi-platinum award-winning singer Bryan Abrams, shares his sobriety journey and how he found treatment that actually worked. It’s based on one alcoholic helping another. The Serenity Prayer is commonly used in AA meetings as a tool for reflection and guidance.

Since we do not keep attendance records, if you require proof that you attended an A.A. Meeting you must bring paperwork with you that can be signed or initialed by the person who led the meeting discussion. This will be done for you at the end of the meeting. Also, you will want to search for “Open” meetings under Type of Meeting.

Others attend due to pressure from a loved one or because they are required by the court, such as after being arrested for drunk driving. Group consisted of only Bill, Dr. Bob, and a patient at an Akron hospital. In 1939, the program expanded, largely due to the publication of the book, Alcoholics Anonymous, which is known as the ”Big Book.” The growth of people’s interest in A.A. Increased more after a 1941 article in the Saturday Evening Post about the group. As it is widely known, was founded in 1935 by Bill W.

AA meetings offer inmates a structured path toward sobriety inside correctional facilities or prisons. These meetings are instrumental in helping individuals remain sober while incarcerated and achieve sobriety upon release. However, many AA meetings emphasize the practical aspects of recovery, such as sharing personal experiences, discussing challenges, and offering mutual support. The Big Book is the foundational text of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), published in 1939. It contains the Twelve Steps and personal stories of recovery, providing guidance and inspiration for those seeking to overcome alcohol addiction. Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) is an international program focused on supporting people during alcohol recovery, with a goal of helping them achieve and sustain sobriety.

• There are no age or education requirements.
• Therefore, potential members should be comfortable actively participating in this group setting.
• This page tells what to expect from Alcoholics Anonymous.
• Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
• Others were fortunate enough to appreciate, early in life or in our drinking careers, that alcohol had become unmanageable.

Employment and service roles

There are no age or education requirements. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about their drinking problem. Be of service by sharing your experience, strength and hope with fellow alcoholics, new and old, around the world. To find Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings near you, you have options.

Disease model

Within our membership may be found people of all ages and many different social, economic, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. Some of us drank for many years before coming to the realization we could not handle alcohol. Others were fortunate enough to appreciate, early in life or their drinking careers, that alcohol was already unmanageable. The anonymity statement of AA underscores the importance of confidentiality, stating that anonymity forms the spiritual foundation of their traditions, reminding members to prioritize principles over personalities. In 2014, Alcoholics Anonymous conducted a study regarding its success rate with over 6,000 members.

What is AA? How it Works, History & Types of Meetings

The review was published March 11 in Cochrane Database of Systematic Review. Cochrane requires its authors to undertake a rigorous process that ensures the studies represented in its summaries are high-quality and the Alcohol Use Disorder review of evidence is unbiased. We’ll be able to tell you if your insurance provider is in network with an American Addiction Centers treatment facility. Given the number of individuals struggling with or at risk for an AUD, it is understandable that AA has grown to what it is today—an organization with more than 115,000 groups worldwide.

Since its inception, AA has grown into a global fellowship with more than 123,000 groups in approximately 180 countries around the world. AA membership is currently estimated to be over two million, and its literature has been translated into more than 100 different languages. The specific countries with the most members of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services are difficult to track as AA does not maintain centralized records of worldwide membership statistics. AA is organized and financed through a decentralized structure with local AA groups and a general service office. Central to its operation are the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions, which provide a structured path to recovery. To help you decide whether you might have a problem with drinking, we’ve prepared these 12 questions.

• It’s important to keep in mind that 12-step programs are spiritual, not religious.
• Admitting you might need help, or admitting that you’re an alcoholic, takes courage.
• Although AA is well-known and used by millions around the world, mental health professionals are sometimes skeptical of its effectiveness, Humphreys said.
• AA often conducts hospital meetings, serving as an essential part of alcohol treatment programs.
• Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.

American Airlines and American Eagle operate out of ten hubs, with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) being the largest. The airline handles more than 200 million passengers annually, with an average of more than 500,000 passengers daily. As of 2023update, the company employs 103,200 staff members.

Meetings cost nothing to attend and are available almost everywhere. Has been helping alcoholics recover for more than 80 years. A.A.’s program of recovery is built on the simple foundation of one alcoholic sharing with another. We are a Fellowship of people who have lost the ability to control our drinking and have found ourselves in various kinds of trouble as a result of drinking.

Of the members surveyed, 22 percent had been sober for 20 years or more. The findings also revealed that 27 percent of participants had achieved sobriety for less than a year. A sponsor in AA is a member who has made significant progress in their own recovery and offers personal guidance and support to newer members, often referred to as sponsees.