I have been to meetings with as few as five people and as many as sixty. Not everyone is going to talk, but some will. Join our supportive sober community where each day becomes a step towards personal growth and lasting positive change. As the meeting progresses, you’ll naturally get a better idea of the types of people attending it—and whether or not they’re a group you want to share your recovery with. You might even decide—when determining what the right AA meeting for you is—that you’d prefer one of these formats to in-person meetings.
Finding an AA Meeting
Meetings typically close with a prayer, moment of silence, recitation of the Responsibility Statement, or by reading a section of another A.A. 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. Meetings cost nothing to attend and are available almost everywhere. Meeting size is another factor—with some people feeling more comfortable in larger groups or smaller groups. At both types of meetings, it may be requested that participants confine their discussion to matters pertaining to recovery from alcoholism.
Still other meetings use a dial-in conference call number. Meetings are held in-person, online, or on the telephone. The members of liberty cap effects each meeting decide when, where, and how often they will meet. Members who determine the format of their meetings. Meetings are typically listed as “open” or “closed” meetings.
He is the medical director at Alcohol Recovery Medicine. For over 20 years Dr. Umhau was a senior clinical investigator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Can I leave you with one final thought? When you least want to go to a meeting may be the time you most need to go to one.
What to Expect at Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) Meetings
They say we are a composite of the people we spend the most time with and this goes double for recovery. Still, finding a meeting is only the first step toward finding the right meeting for you. Once everyone who wants to share is finished, the meeting wraps up with another group prayer. All in all, an AA meeting takes around an hour. The get-togethers can be fantastic outlets for those working on recovery, with groups of others in similar situations offering support through comradery, advice, or even just active listening.
Speak With Someone Who Understands
- The meeting might be held in a building connected with a church or a community center.
- 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 call for a moment of silence and/or recite the Serenity Prayer.
- It isn’t required of anyone to do so but it keeps with the tradition of AA that when alcoholic calls for help, the helping hand of AA will be there.
- Members of AA support one another by sharing their experiences, listening to one another, and providing tips for what has helped them on their recovery journey.
Before figuring out how to find the best AA meeting for you, it might be helpful to understand what an AA meeting is like in general, so you have an idea of what to expect. Meeting Guide offers an online support site where users can easily find answers to frequently asked questions.
While they cater to different substances—AA focuses on alcohol, and NA on narcotics—the structure and purpose of their meetings are very similar. This guide will help you understand what happens at these meetings, the types of topics that are discussed, and how these groups can support recovery. Some meetings are purely discussion meetings where the topic is random and more derived by an interest that one of the members may have. Speaker’s meetings feature a person chosen to talk about their experience, strength, and hope in regard to their recovery.
How Often Should You Attend AA Meetings?
While each of these men had their own journey of recovery, it wasn’t until they met face to face that they realized the power of speaking with a “fellow sufferer” for achieving complete sobriety. Some will talk at length and others may just thank the speaker. This is such how do you smoke moon rocks an important part of the meeting and cannot be neglected. The power of attending an AA meeting is in finding we are not alone. The most important thing about an anonymous meeting is that they are a safe space and it allows people like me to connect with fellow members.
Service entities directly to the celebrities that drink alcohol everyday app. Over 100,000 weekly meetings are currently listed, and the information is refreshed twice daily. Some groups, with the consent of the prospective member, have an A.A. This may be provided on a slip that has been furnished by the referral source, or via a digital method if the group is online. The referred person is responsible for returning the proof of attendance. Speaker meetings often are open meetings.