Alcoholics Anonymous

About Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 by a New York stockbroker and an Ohio surgeon who both had serious drinking problems. The two men started the group to stay sober themselves and to help others who suffered from alcohol addiction.

Over the years, the organization grew rapidly. Current membership numbers over 2,000,000 in 150 different countries. Members are made up of individuals who have one common goal in mind: stop drinking.

Anyone can become a member of AA. There are no membership fees or dues required. All prospective members need is a desire to dedicate themselves to remaining sober one day at a time.

Members must also promise to protect the identity of their Fellowship. Anonymity is a firm tradition in the program, which seeks to govern itself by principles, not personalities. AA membership is never disclosed to anyone, guaranteeing the confidentiality that many members desire as they pursue their own private path to recovery.

AA Meetings

AA meetings are designed to allow both members and non-members to come together and share their experiences with alcoholism. Though all meetings operate on the premise of open sharing, joining in the discussion is completely voluntary. You will never be forced to speak during an AA meeting, nor will you be harshly judged in any way for words spoken or unspoken.

There are many different types of meetings within the AA program, but most fall into one of the following categories:

• Open Meetings
• Closed Meetings
• Mixed Meetings (men only, women only, etc.)
• Speaker, Big Book Study, Step Study, or Discussion Meetings
• Clubhouse or Church Meetings

To learn more about Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or to locate a meeting place, check out one of the following links:

• Guide to AA Meetings
• Find an AA Meeting

12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous

The heart of the AA recovery program is the 12 Step Method. This proven method allows alcoholics to work through their addiction and walk down the path of recovery one step at a time. Those who have completed the steps will find other ways of developing a satisfying life without alcohol.

The 12 steps are:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. We seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to other addicts and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

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