Frequently Asked Questions about A.A.
Is Alcoholics Anonymous For Me?
Only you can decide whether you want to give Alcoholics Anonymous a try— whether you think it can help you. We who are in A.A. came because we finally gave up trying to control our drinking. We still hated to admit that we could never safely drink. Then we heard from other A.A. members that we were sick. (We thought so for years!) We found out that many people suffered from the same feelings of guilt and loneliness and hopelessness that we did. We found out that we had these feelings because we had the disease of alcoholism. We decided to try to face up to what alcohol had done to us.
Will I Find People Like Me in A.A.?
Like other illnesses, alcoholism strikes all kinds of people. So the men and women in A.A. are of all races and nationalities, all religions and no religion at all. They are rich and poor and just average. They work at all occupations, as lawyers and housewives, teachers and truck drivers, waitresses and members of the clergy.
What Does Membership in A.A. Cost?
Membership in A.A. involves no financial obligations of any kind. The A.A. program of recovery from alcoholism is available to anyone who has a desire to stop drinking. Most local meetings "pass the basket" to defray the costs of rent, coffee and supplies. A.A. is entirely self-supporting (voluntary contributions from A.A. members only), and no outside contributions are accepted.
Can I Go to Any Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting?
The purpose of all A.A. group meetings, as the Preamble states, is for A.A. members to “share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.” Toward this end, A.A. groups have both open and closed meetings. Closed meetings are for A.A. members only, or for those who have a drinking problem and “have a desire to stop drinking.” Open meetings are available to anyone interested in Alcoholics Anonymous’ program of recovery from alcoholism. Non-alcoholics may attend open meetings as observers. At both types of meetings, the A.A. chairperson may request that participants confine their discussion to matters pertaining to recovery from alcoholism. Whether open or closed, A.A. group meetings are conducted by A.A. members who determine the format of their meetings. https://www.aa.org/aa-preamble
Resources
Frequently Asked Questions About A.A.
Do you have questions about Alcoholics Anonymous? Here are some links to valuable A.A. literature.
Official & General AA Resources:
- Alcoholics Anonymous (AA.org): aa.org – The main site for general info, history, and finding meetings.
- Frequently Asked Questions About AA https://www.aa.org/frequently-asked-questions-about-aa-formerly-44-questions
- Daily Reflection: aa.org/pages/en_US/daily-reflection – For daily spiritual guidance..
Is A.A. for Me?
How to Find an AA Meeting:
- Find A.A. Near You: aa.org/find-aa – A starting point for meeting searches by location for online and in-person AA meetings.
- Online & Virtual Meetings: Online Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous: aa-intergroup.org – A central hub for finding worldwide online Zoom meetings.
The Meeting Guide App
About Meeting Guide: Over 100,000 weekly meetings are currently listed, and the information is refreshed twice daily.
Meeting Guide features
- Listing of both in-person and online meetings
- A default view that provides a list of meetings showing time, location and meeting name
- A meeting detail view that offers extra information such as meeting format and any notes provided by the group
- A search function to find meetings by location or keyword
- A daily quote feature lets users read from "Daily Reflections"
- A news feature with the latest from the General Service Office and Grapevine
Is There an Alcoholic in Your Life?
https://www.aa.org/there-alcoholic-your-life
Family and concerned friends are encouraged to check out Al-Anon Family Groups, the sister program to A.A. specifically for friends and family.
Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition - Big Book
https://www.aa.org/the-big-book
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. got sober. Now translated into over 70 languages, it is still considered A.A.’s basic text.
The Big Book in ASL
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6Ke-nL58u6mS4B6fg8RnufQKDOB-Ow-X
Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions
Read about the Steps in the "12 & 12.” Searchable PDF, audio and ASL versions are available on this website.
The A.A. Group... where it all begins
The A.A. Group... where it all begins
The A.A. Group... where it all begins
https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/assets/p-16_theaagroup.pdf
- AA General Service Conference Areas: aa.org/list-of-general-service-conference-area-web-sites-uscanada – Links to regional (US/Canada) websites
- Visit the monthly District 18 Business meeting on the 1st Saturday of the month at 4 p.m. Be sure that your Group is represented by electing a General Service Representative
- For a new General Service Representative, this leaflet outlines responsibilities and useful sources of information; for a group, what to keep in mind when electing a G.S.R. https://www.aa.org/gsr-general-service-representative