If you’ve been struggling with alcohol abuse, AA meetings could be the answer.
Nearly 15 million Americans struggle with Alcohol Use Disorder, yet only 10% of those people are being treated for it. When you’re in the thick of alcohol abuse, living a sober life might seem like some far-off dream that you can’t quite turn into a reality.
One of the best things you can do to start to understand your addiction is to attend AA meetings. Alcoholics Anonymous has been around for nearly 90 years, but those that have never been before might wonder, “how does AA work?”
In this post, we’re going to give you a brief rundown of what to expect from an AA meeting. Keep reading and this big first step on the road to sobriety will seem a lot less intimidating.
How Does AA Work?
AA isn’t run by doctors, psychiatrists, or clinics – it’s an informal society that allows its chapters to operate in whatever way works for them. There are over 115,000 AA groups worldwide, each following a general set of practices and philosophies, but each unique in its own right.
There are both open and closed meetings: open meetings are open to the public, while closed ones are for members only. In an open meeting, a speaker might tell their story of how AA helped them beat their addiction.
In members-only meetings, whoever is leading the meeting will discuss a topic and other members will take turns speaking on their experience with the given topic. The goal is to cultivate an open and supportive conversation around alcohol addiction.
The 12-Step Model
In general, one of the tenets that alcoholics anonymous does follow is the 12-step model that its founders used. Many alcoholics have found success using this model, though it doesn’t have to be followed verbatim – it’s more of a guide for those that wish to use it.
It should be noted that AA has a backdrop of religiosity, but you don’t have to be a believer to take part. The 12 steps can be found here, on the official AA website.
When you take part in the 12-step program, you’ll be given sobriety chips along the way. These tokens are meant to be milestones during recovery; for instance, at your first AA meeting, you’d get a 24-hour chip.
Every group is a bit different, but you’ll probably get different chips at points throughout your first year of recovery. The idea is to keep them in order to remind yourself of where you started and how far you’ve come.
If you’re running an AA meeting, you can purchase your AA chips from thetokenshop.com.
The Benefits of Sobriety, Realized
Now that we’ve answered the question, “how does AA work?”, you can think about whether it’s the best way for you to get sober. It’s hard to see when you’re in the thick of an addiction, but there are benefits to sobriety that are beyond what you can even conceive of. Whether or not you choose AA to help you get sober, getting sober will make you love yourself again.
If you found this helpful, come back for more on health and fitness.
