Not ready for Alcoholics Anonymous? here's a story of another Survivor who Attends Alcoholics Meetings

The 12 step program has proven itself an effective method of overcoming addicition. Though many attribute the success rate to the 12 steps, it's more the involvement with other people and the connections made among those with a common problem. An alcoholic meeting is a chance to gain strength from others while still weak and together overcome a very powerful addiction to alcohol.

My husband and I recently relocated to a different city within the state we live in. My husband has attended alcoholics meetings on and off for several years. The alcoholics meetings can be of great support; however it is important to find the one that will meet your particular needs. If you attend the meetings out of convenience of time or location you will probably not get your needs met.

We found that in our new community they had several different meeting times through out the week. My husband went to one meeting on a Monday night, but found that most of the people that attended were much younger than him. This made him feel uncomfortable and didn't offer the support he had hoped.

The reason was, at least for him, the benefit of a common set of experiences that only closeness in age was very important. It's not critical or even a consideration for many but for my husband it was a deal breaker.

After attending the Monday meeting he found a poster advertising that on Tuesday’s a group of men over 50 met at the same location. He attended that meeting and instantly found the support and understanding that he had experienced in the alcoholics meetings in our former community.

There are multiple AA directories that list alcoholics meetings. There are also many ways of accessing the directories. Local newspapers, area churches and visitor information centers are just a few places to look for the listings.

Many alcoholics meetings are listed on the websites of cities and communities. This will usually give the meeting times, locations and type of group.

Alcoholics meetings are held in most communities. In the larger communities and cities the alcoholics meetings are often broken up into specialty or sub groups, for example meetings for men, women, smoker’s non-smokers, gays or lesbians.

There are a great number of subgroups for the alcoholics anonymous meetings, so if you have a specific interest area or need, you should be able to find the right meeting.

Most communities also offer alcoholics meetings for adult children of alcoholics as well as for significant others that may be co-dependent. In smaller communities the groups may seem very tight knit and closed to new comers, however most meetings for alcoholics are open for new members at all times.

Because alcoholics meetings tend to follow a similar agenda and beliefs it is possible to attend meetings in communities that you are visiting.

Often times being away from home on vacation or at business meetings may be a time that is particularly difficult for the alcoholic to maintain sobriety, but most likely a meeting will be taking place in the community that you find yourself in. Alcoholics meetings are not limited only to the United States.

Several countries hold meetings on a regular basis, so accessing alcoholic meetings when traveling abroad is a viable option. This is a great way of not only gaining the support you need while traveling, but also a way to establish relationships throughout the world.

Whether you are new to recovery, or have many years of sobriety, attendance at alcoholics meetings is a way of gaining support, giving support, and developing long term relationships with others that know what you are going through and want to reach out and help. Remember that there really is no permanent alcoholism cure.

 

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