Public Information
Information about Alcoholics Anonymous for the Public
Alcoholics Anonymous, Saving Lives for 80 Plus Years
There is a solution
The Primary Purpose of AA is to carry the message of recovery to the still-suffering alcoholic.
If someone you care about has a drinking problem, AA may be the solution for them.
For 80-plus years, AA has helped millions of alcoholics stop drinking. The AA Recovery Program works best when one alcoholic shares their recovery experience with another.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a recovery program for alcoholism. By helping the public better understand alcoholism, we can better help the still-suffering alcoholic. When the public better understands the problem we can help remove some of the stigmas around the disease of alcoholism and better help those afflicted.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a recovery program for alcoholism.
Alcoholism is an illness that affects people of all ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, genders, abilities, orientations, nationalities, cultures, ethnicities, and beliefs. Loss of control for the alcoholic is not measured by how long one drinks or how much one drinks. It is up to the individual to determine if they have a drinking problem or if they want help as well as recovery.
AA members share their experience, strength, and hope with anyone seeking help with a drinking problem; they give person-to-person assistance and/or sponsorship to the alcoholic regardless of how they get to AA.
Members sharing the AA recovery program with other alcoholics is vital to recovery. Many newcomers best relate to those who have found recovery regardless of how hopeless they may feel as times.
What is AA?
People from all walks of life come together to solve their drinking problem.
Nonprofessional
AA is nonprofessional, self-supporting, multiracial, apolitical, and available almost everywhere. There are no age or education requirements. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about their drinking problem.”
Professionals, those that work with the recovery community, commonly refer to AA as a peer mentoring group, support recovery organization, or a mutual aid society. Ongoing support is an essential part of recovery from alcoholism.
Alcoholics Anonymous World Service, Inc. is a nonprofit organization.
Starting in the late 1930s, AA is operated and maintained by the voluntary contributions of its members as are the individual AA Groups.
Cooperation without affiliation
AA does not affiliate with other entities or organizations.
AA will cooperate with anyone to help the still suffering. Members of AA outreach committees are trained to bring presentations to any group or professional organization in our efforts to better help the still-suffering alcoholic.
AA is in over 180 countries. The book Alcoholics Anonymous, the basic text of AA, has been translated into over 70 languages. There are over 300 AA meetings a week in the Edmonton Intergroup area. Virtual meetings are available around the world. There are AA meetings starting every hour.
There are over 300 other organizations that use the AA Program of Recovery, the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of AA, for other problems and addictions. Each Twelve Step Group or organization keeps to a singleness of purpose. AA members share their experience with recovery from alcoholism so that newcomers can identify to get the help they need.
New Beginnings
Helping the public better understand alcoholism will save lives!
Understanding alcoholism
“There are many different ideas about what alcoholism really is.
The explanation that seems to make sense to most AA members is that alcoholism is an illness, a progressive illness, which can never be cured but which, like some other diseases, can be arrested.
Going one step further, many AAs feel that the illness represents the combination of a physical sensitivity to alcohol and a mental obsession with drinking, which, regardless of consequences, cannot be broken by willpower alone.”
– Copyright A.A. World Services, Inc. Frequently Asked Questions About AA
AA is not anti-alcohol. Members have no interest in alcohol reform or the use of alcohol by others. Anyone concerned with their drinking or the drinking of a loved one is welcome in an open AA meeting.
Members of AA do not impose their experience with drinking on others; they will share their experience when asked to do so. Recovered alcoholics know their own sobriety depends on connecting with other alcoholics, carrying the message of recovery to the still suffering.
Alcoholics Anonymous is not an anonymous organization
Members of AA protect their anonymity:
to protect the AA organization, their professional and private lives, the lives of other alcoholics, and most importantly, those seeking help with their drinking problem: the newcomer.
Your anonymity will be protected. AA does not keep information on their members nor track or record who contacts them.
AA may be the biggest organization in the world that no one wanted to join…
There is a solution for alcoholism
What professionals have to say about AA
Professionals sharing their experience with the AA organization
AA as an organization does not endorse or participate in studies about alcoholism or Alcoholics Anonymous.
Nonalcoholic professionals have been involved with and have supported the AA organization from its beginnings in the 1930s. Professionals assisted in creating the program of action and have helped enormously in laying the foundations of the AA organization.
No one sets out to become an alcoholic
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an alcoholism recovery program with one primary purpose: to carry the message of recovery to alcoholics who still suffer.
AA does not diagnose anyone with a drinking problem; however, we can show others how to diagnose themselves.
If you think you have a problem with your drinking, ask yourself these simple questions:
- Can you control how much you drink every time you drink?
- Have you been able to stay “stopped” through your own willpower?
If you answer “no” to either of these questions and would like help, please call our Hotline: 780-424-5900
Or attend a meeting: (visit our meeting list to choose one)
Or contact us by email: (centraloffice@edmontonaa.org)
If your drinking does not bother you, it does not bother us. If you think you have a drinking problem, we have a solution. Experienced AA members suggest that the sooner you address this progressive illness, the easier it will be to recover.
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”
AA is self-supporting
AA is self-supporting through the member’s voluntary contributions. The AA organization is supported and operated by the member contributions in each region or country. Newcomers are encouraged to attend for free.
The founders of AA started as a community of alcoholics helping others get sober and find recovery. They soon realized their program of recovery could help alcoholics around the world. As they began the organization, they realized money could destroy the program that saved their lives, and the recovery community they had grown to love. They decided to make AA self-supporting and that declining outside contributions would make the organization stronger as well as help to maintain their primary purpose.
Self Discovery
Religion or Spiritual:
One misconception of AA is that it is a religious program. It is neither affiliated with nor endorses any religious belief or dogma. Members of AA range from the hard and fast beliefs of atheism to the most ardent of religious devotees from every denomination, sect, and culture. AA does not endorse nor oppose any other organization or profession.
The spiritual experience in AA is as varied as its members.
Each person finds their own truth about their drinking problem.
Many recovered alcoholics refer to their truth as a spiritual experience.
AA has no interest in discouraging others in their efforts to find solutions to the age-old problem of alcoholism. The AA organization has no opinion on any other subjects, including alcohol reform, detox, alcoholism treatment, social issues, politics, or religion. AA does not oppose medical professionals that are researching other solutions for alcoholism.
The Al-Anon organization believes that alcoholism is a family disease.
Al-Anon Family Groups also provide support for Alateen in many communities. Alateen is for teenagers who have been affected by someone else’s alcoholism.
Alcoholism frequently affects the loved ones of alcoholics. Al-Anon uses the shared experience of its members to help newcomers better understand alcoholism, and find support from others who have faced similar experiences.
Al-Anon Family Groups is a Twelve Step Program of recovery. Members are made up of people concerned with someone’s drinking problem.
Starting with the first gatherings of alcoholics in 1935, before the group or organization had a name, the families of alcoholics were meeting and sharing their experiences with their loved ones. Loved ones joined their alcoholic family members in their gatherings and together, they sought out ways to support sobriety for the entire family.
There is a solution
You can find more information about Al-anon and Alateen at https://al-anon.org
The Three Legacies of AA
A Complete Recovery Program from Alcoholism:
The AA program of recovery suggests every member should be fully involved in all Three Legacies of AA:
- Unity: creating a social support system. The psycho-social connection that made AA unique in the world’s efforts to help alcoholics. Creating a social support system for long term sobriety is essential. This is sometimes referred to by professionals as peer-to-peer support or mentoring recovery.
- Service: giving back freely in the efforts of service to the still suffering Alcoholic. We know that members who engage in service have much higher success rates. Those who have recovered frequently find giving back to others, as AA’s greatest long-term gift.
- Recovery: using the directions in the book “Alcoholics Anonymous” as a program to recover from alcoholism. There is no known cure for alcoholism; however, it can be treated and arrested.
The AA organization and anonymity
We need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
“Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, media, radio, and films.“
“We respectfully ask that AA speakers and AA members not be photographed, videoed, or identified by full name on all media platforms or in any published reports of our meetings, including those reports on public media platforms.”