You can help people who are affected by alcoholism by making a donation to the Cleveland District Office. Often, the next step is to read a passage from the Big Book and reinforcement about the importance of member privacy and anonymity. Meetings typically close with a prayer, moment of silence, recitation of the Responsibility Statement, or by reading a section of another A.A. Meetings are opened by the chair, with some meetings then calling for recitation of the Serenity Prayer or a moment of silence. New attendees are then encouraged to introduce themselves, though they don’t have to if they aren’t comfortable doing so. However, the organization reinforces that it is not interested in who made the referral to A.A.
The 12 Steps of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous)
By Buddy TBuddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Because he is a member of a support group that stresses the importance of anonymity at the public level, he does not use his photograph or his real name on this website. Some members attend A.A. Meetings on their own. 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. Describes who A.A.s are and what they have learned about alcoholism.
Is there an alcoholic in your life?
The only qualification for A.A. Membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no other requirements to join this fellowship and attend a meeting.
- The AA Big Book also includes the 12-Steps of AA to provide guidance and support to people looking to achieve and maintain sobriety through the AA fellowship.
- We are not allied with any group, cause or religious denomination.
- And other twelve-step programs are effective for increasing abstinence.
- There are no age or education requirements to participate.
- Fortunately, there are many different types of meetings for people from different backgrounds or with similar situations.
Big Book ASL – Appendix IV – The Lasker Award
We also discuss who can join Alcoholics Anonymous and what research has found about the effectiveness of attending these meetings when overcoming alcohol misuse or abuse. A.A.’s primary purpose is to help alcoholics to achieve sobriety. For more than 80 years, A.A. Has helped millions recover from alcoholism – to get sober and stay sober.
- There are no dues or fees, so it doesn’t cost anything to try it out.
- New attendees are then encouraged to introduce themselves, though they don’t have to if they aren’t comfortable doing so.
- Anyone with a desire to stop drinking is welcome, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income or profession.
Your General Service Office (G.S.O.), the Grapevine and the General Service Structure
Alcoholics Anonymous, also known as the “Big Book,” presents the A.A. Program for recovery from alcoholism. First published in 1939, its purpose was to show other alcoholics how the first 100 people of A.A.
It also contains stories written by the co-founders and stories from a wide range of members who have found recovery in A.A. To find Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings near you, you have options. You can start by visiting the official AA website, which includes local listings.
Big Book ASL – Appendix VII – Twelve Concepts (Short Form)
Anyone with a desire to stop drinking is welcome, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income, or profession. You don’t have to pay anything to attend. Like individual alcoholics anonymous groups, the GSO is self-supporting. It does not accept donations from people or organizations outside of AA. Has a simple program that works. It’s based on one alcoholic helping another.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, or A.A.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, the worldwide fellowship of sobriety seekers, is the most effective path to abstinence, according to a comprehensive analysis conducted by a Stanford School of Medicine researcher and his collaborators.
- In A.A., alcoholics learn to stay away from alcohol completely in order to lead a normal life.
- Members work together to help the alcoholic who still suffers.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
- Describes who A.A.s are and what they have learned about alcoholism.
- However, the organization reinforces that it is not interested in who made the referral to A.A.
- AA meetings are gatherings where recovery from alcoholism is discussed.
- It also contains stories written by the co-founders and stories from a wide range of members who have found recovery in A.A.
- Meetings and how can they help?
A Stanford researcher and two collaborators conducted an extensive review of Alcoholics Anonymous studies and found that the fellowship helps more people achieve sobriety than therapy does. Following his hospital discharge, Wilson joined the Oxford Group and tried to recruit other alcoholics to the group. These early efforts to help others kept him sober, but were ineffective in getting anyone else to join the group and get sober.
Big Book ASL – The Doctor’s Opinion
Now translated into over 70 languages, it is still considered A.A.’s basic text. AA began in 1935 when two men in Akron, Ohio, were searching for a way to stay sober; they found it by forming a support group. They later developed the 12 steps, the first being accepting one’s inability to control drinking; the last, helping others sustain sobriety by becoming a sponsor of a new member. The AA model — open to all and free — has spread around the globe, and AA now boasts over 2 million members in 180 nations and more than 118,000 groups. Although AA is well-known and used by millions around the world, mental health professionals are sometimes skeptical of its effectiveness, Humphreys said.