Alcoholism and other forms of substance dependence were highly stigmatized conditions that generated limited public sympathy. Most hospitals in urban areas did not welcome alcoholics for treatment but were compelled to serve those who presented acute medical issues. Treatment resources were devoted mostly to detoxification and alcoholic-related morbidity, with limited attention given to assisting alcoholics to maintain abstinence following detoxification. With its focus on maintaining sobriety, AA led to a shift in treatment emphasis from managing acute aspects of substance dependence to facilitating long-term sobriety in the community. 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.

As a platform solely dedicated to addiction recovery, Recoverlution believes in providing accessible recovery for all. As such, Alcoholics Anonymous is one of the many evidence-based treatment methods that you learn about here and can benefit from. You can also use our platform to easily access and hold meetings online. This generalized belief allows a group/mutual connection to a transcendent power that can help in the healing and recovery process without the need for all members to share a common belief system or religion.

Alcoholics Resource Center

Participating in a group helps ensure that when a person reaches out for help, A.A. We are excited by the launch of our new Alcoholics Anonymous Resource Center website and hope that each of you will share in that excitement. The purpose of this site is to provide information and social networking to support our fellow AA members. We believe that this site will meet a need for those interested in all matters related to AA within the scope of the Traditions. The LA Central Office bookstore is now open in person and online!

There are two ways to think about AA – How it works for an individual, and how it works as a group. Similarly, the individual groups and meetings follow the 12 Traditions. Together, these two sets of guiding principles have ensured that AA remains completely unaffiliated and effective as a means to treat and overcome alcohol addiction.

What is Alcoholics Anonymous? – Definition, Meetings & Steps

Immediately, both of them started to work with alcoholics at Akron’s City Hospital where a patient successfully achieved sobriety. The three men together decided to start AA although, the name came later. In 1939 the basic book, Alcoholics Anonymous was published by the Fellowship. This book was published as a resource for people in sobriety to go to for wisdom, ideas and support. Wrote the text and content for the book which explained the AA’s methods and philosophies which began the Twelve- Step of Recovery.

AA meetings are widely available with an estimated 87,000 AA groups around the world. AA is a program for living that emphasizes abstinence from alcohol, personal and spiritual growth, and reliance on a higher power. The estimated membership of AA is over 1.7 million members in 150 countries. Members enter AA through what is alcoholics anonymous multiple routes, and membership is diverse. Those most likely to affiliate with AA have more severe alcohol problems, more concern about their drinking, and a history of using external supports to cope with problems. Research has documented a significant correlation between AA attendance and successful outcomes.

What Are The 12 Steps?

Environmental and quasi-experiment studies suggest that AA can help alcoholics make positive changes. In longitudinal studies, AA appears to be about as effective as other abstinence-based support groups. More informally than not, AA’s membership has helped popularize the disease concept of alcoholism which had appeared in the eighteenth century. AA meetings do not exclude other alcoholics, though some meetings cater to specific demographics such as gender, profession, age, sexual orientation, or culture. Meetings in the United States are held in a variety of languages including Armenian, English, Farsi, Finnish, French, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish. A member who accepts a service position or an organizing role is a “trusted servant” with terms rotating and limited, typically lasting three months to two years and determined by group vote and the nature of the position.

The Glaser article says that “nothing about the 12-step approach draws on modern science”, but a large amount of scientific research has been done with AA, showing that AA increases abstinence rates. The Glaser article criticizes 12-step programs for being “faith-based”, but 12-step programs allow for a very wide diversity of spiritual beliefs, and there are a growing number of secular 12-step meetings. Alcoholics Anonymous is an international peer-led mutual aid fellowship meeting online and in-person dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professional and non-denominational as well as apolitical and unaffiliated.

How The 12 Steps work

The addition of AA steps, meetings and sponsors has helped the organization become recognizable as an effective support group to millions of people worldwide. Clearly, faith-based programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous are not for everyone. Although millions of people claim to have found lasting recovery in AA, the spiritual aspect of the program can be a stumbling block for some who wish to stop drinking. The person leading the meeting chooses a topic and members to take turns sharing their experience on the topic. Some AA meetings are designated for a specific purpose, such as 12-step study groups or beginners’ meetings designed to teach newcomers about the basics of the program.