Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a fellowship of people who gather at local meetings where they share hope, strength, and experiences so they can help each other recover from alcohol use disorder. If you want to attend, the only requirement is that you want to stop drinking. There are no fees or dues for membership. You can attend in-person or online AA meetings that range from a handful of people to more than a hundred.

What Is Alcoholics Anonymous?

Of all the alcohol support groups around the world, Alcoholics Anonymous is the oldest and the largest. This organization exists to help its members overcome their alcoholism. It’s a worldwide organization where members help each other during their recoveries to maintain sobriety. Much of this process follows the 12-step program established by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in 1935 in Ohio. What started in the city of Akron is now on multiple continents, where people of all genders, generations, and ethnic backgrounds attend meetings in pursuit of sobriety and keeping their freedom from alcohol. These meetings help people learn and follow the 12 steps that keep the program stable and free from external influence. The organization’s structure is on a mutual-aid-based fellowship, so former alcoholics are often the ones who guide and assist individuals currently in a recovery phase.

The founders of Alcoholics Anonymous created the 12 steps after a considerable amount of work, and much of the process involved trial and error until they helped one man achieve sobriety for over a month. Alcoholics Anonymous is remarkable in its success in how former alcoholics can connect to uncontrolled drinkers who benefit from their sponsorship and tutelage.

Recovered alcoholics share their stories of drinking and recovery, and they invite others to join the fellowship so they can read and interpret the program. Attendees are asked to keep open minds but also remember that alcohol use disorder is a progressive condition. Being cured isn’t possible, but the condition can be controlled through total abstinence. The 12 steps might be written slightly differently from group to group, but they generally follow these guidelines:

• Members admit they had no power over alcohol and that their lives had turned unmanageable.
• They conclude that a Higher Power could restore their sanity.
• They decide to turn their life and will over to this Higher Power as they understand it to be in terms of their own religion, faith, or spiritual tradition.
• Members find the courage to search their moral inventory.
• They admit to themselves, others, and their Higher Power about the specific nature of their wrongdoings.
• Members prepare for a Higher Power to free them of all character defects.
• With humility, members ask their Higher Power to erase their shortcomings.
• AA members often make lists of everyone they have harmed and prepare to make amends to everyone.
• They make direct amends to those receptive to such actions but don’t do it when making amends might injure anyone.
• Even now, members keep taking personal inventory and promptly admit wrongdoing when they do it.
• Members practice meditation and prayer to connect to and understand their Higher Power.
• They spiritually awaken because of these steps and practice them throughout life.

Newcomers to AA aren’t required or even asked to accept and follow the 12 steps when they can’t or aren’t willing to do so. AA is not affiliated with a specific religion, and the program can be applied to anyone, regardless of culture, faith, or belief structure.

Is AA Really Anonymous?

AA meetings and participation are supposed to be anonymous, and the organization has two different traditions that emphasize anonymity. They are the Eleventh and Twelfth Traditions. The first establishes a public relations policy that encourages attraction instead of promotion; personal anonymity should be respected in film, radio, and the press. In the second of the two, anonymity is a spiritual foundation for every other tradition, and principles should always be practiced or highlighted over personalities. The protection of anonymity is often considered the biggest reason that AA has kept operating and growing for many decades. It suggests a practice of equality among all members, and the shared experiences of alcoholism and recovery provide unity to the community.

AA anonymity is practiced at both the personal and public levels. Personal anonymity provides crucial protection for newcomers who don’t want to be publicly identified as alcoholics. This helps their chances of sobriety and recovery, and they’re more likely to share in meetings. It can also protect their careers and families, but some alcoholics choose to go public about their conditions and recoveries. This is always a personal choice and not the work of AA. Public anonymity had applied to films, press, radio, and TV for a long time, but it now matters in online affairs as well. AA members are responsible for maintaining the anonymity of others but also themselves. The organization does not wish anyone to exploit the affiliation for personal gain or to attain power or recognition.

How Do AA Meetings Work?

Attending an AA meeting can be an intimidating thought if you haven’t done it before, but a little advance knowledge can go a long way in soothing your anxiety. First, you should know that several formats are possible, and meetings might reflect a local flavor based on where they happen. Most meetings involve members sharing with others about what alcohol use did to them and also those close to them. These members will likely share their steps to stop drinking and how life is going for them today. The whole idea behind these meetings is so members can share their hopes, strengths, and experiences so they can all work on the common issue of recovery from alcohol use disorder.

If you look over a list of meetings, you’ll see that many are listed as either “open” or “closed” events. Open meetings are gatherings where anyone interested in AA programs can visit, and nonalcoholics can show up simply as observers. Alternatively, closed meetings are only for members who want to stop drinking or know they have a problem. In both open and closed meetings, members and visitors might be asked to keep conversation only about alcoholism and recovery from it.

Members determine the meeting formats in various places, from commercial office spaces, community centers, treatment centers, and churches to parks and beaches. Some meetings even happen via telephone or online. Discussion-format meetings usually have a chair or leader who picks a topic that everyone focuses on, and speaker-format meetings might have a handful of people share their experiences if they’ve been continuously sober for long enough. Someone often leads beginner meetings with a strong pattern of sobriety to help newcomers go through discussions and learn the first several of the 12 steps. Socialization might happen after a meeting, but introductions and participation are ultimately each participant’s choice.

What Are AA Big Book Workshops?

If you look up New Hampshire AA meetings, some are listed as Big Book workshops. AA has several different meeting types, but Big Book workshops center around what AA members refer to as the Big Book. It’s a nickname for a 1939 book written by one of the organization’s founders. Big Book meetings usually involve reading pertinent material from the book aloud to start the meeting. Granite Recovery Centers runs its own Big Book workshops because of how effective they are in helping those battling alcohol addiction. Meetings centered around the Big Book include studying all 12 Steps as a cohesive unit, learning the early history of AA and how it started helping treat addicts, and enjoying inspiring stories of others’ success.

Online AA Meetings

Traditionally, AA meetings are in-person affairs. However, the global pandemic of 2020 changed that. When the first shelter-in-place orders and lockdown restrictions were put into place, Alcoholics Anonymous was in emergency mode, struggling to find a new base of operations. Many in-person gatherings were previously held in church basements, and this was no longer possible. The organization turned to online AA meetings. Virtual meetings allowed recovering alcoholics to continue their meetings from the comfort of their own homes. The conveniences involved with this persisted after the pandemic receded as a threat in many areas.

Zoom AA meetings are still happening, even long after much of the populace is better protected against the pandemic. Even without a pandemic keeping people home, AA members don’t have to get through traffic or deal with babysitters. They can attend meetings without preparations or planning. Attendance is much easier when someone can join whenever they want and wherever they are at the moment. What was once a stopgap measure intended for temporary use is probably a permanent feature at this point, and it’s likely helped untold numbers of individuals maintain or strengthen their sobriety. Simplicity and accessibility are crucial selling points. The online nature of these meetings makes it possible for individuals to attend meetings if they don’t live near one geographically since they can choose meetings in other time zones and even other countries. It also helps shift workers find meetings at all hours of the day or night.

Find an Online or In-Person AA Meeting in New Hampshire

You can find AA meetings in NH by looking up the state in the AA resource directory online, or you can use AA’s phone app for either Google and Apple.

Get Help for Alcohol and Drug Addiction With Granite Recovery Centers

If you don’t want alcohol to dictate the course of your life, then let Granite Recovery Centers help you. We provide long-term resources, treatment, and care for those battling addiction, including alcohol use disorder. Proper and professional care can treat your alcoholism and any underlying causes that drive you to drink. We operate using a care model that integrates clinical psychotherapy with the 12-step process so that our clients don’t just recover but get better overall. Contact us at 855-712-7784 for immediate assistance by speaking with our team of admission specialists