For instance, a member may be going through a heartbreaking divorce or having a problem in their marriage or another romantic relationship. This is to create safety when sharing about gender-specific issues.

You will also find many meetings that are gay, and some gay men’s meetings. AA Meetings for Men, Women or Mostly GayĮverywhere you go there are AA meetings where only women or men are allowed. Or, you can ask somebody during the break or after the meeting. Usually if you share about a question you have somebody else will take the topic up and answer your question. If you’re confused about something you can share about it. What this means is you don’t talk to somebody who is sharing or ask questions during the meeting. Cross-talking is discouraged at meetings. There are all kinds of beginners meetings around, but the main thing they have in common is that most of the people who attend are new to the AA program and have a lot of questions. These meetings are usually chaired by an AA member with at least a year of continuous sobriety, and other members with multiple days sober also attend in order to be available to help newcomers. Beginners’ AA MeetingsĪA Beginners’ meetings are for people who are new and maybe don’t understand what the AA program is all about yet. By helping others to recover we stay sober ourselves. The primary purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous is to help newcomers to recover. These meetings are crucial to welcome people who aren’t sure they’re alcoholic and don’t want to identify as such but they still feel a need to reach out for help.

At times people studying to be therapists attend, and frequently if the meeting is smaller there are all-around introductions and those who are not alcoholic identify as visitors 1. Sometimes friends or family of alcoholics also attend. One good reason for closed meetings is that members feel safer talking about some issues if the meeting is not open to non-alcoholics. If you cannot identify as alcoholic you may be asked to find a different meeting. It’s common at closed meetings for everybody to introduce themselves in turn, and identify as an alcoholic in turn. If you’re on a court card or attending to placate a family member but you aren’t sure whether you are alcoholic you shouldn’t attend a closed meeting. AA Meetings for Men, Women or Mostly GayĬlosed meetings are only for those who identify as alcoholics.

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