What to Know About the Types of AA Meetings

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Open vs. Closed Meetings

When you think about AA meetings, you may assume that you know which type of people will be in the circle with you. In many cases, AA meetings are only attended by individuals with personal experience with alcohol addiction.

However, some meetings are specified as “open.” In AA, public meetings are open and private meetings are closed.

Open Meetings

Anyone can attend an open AA meeting. The group is open to people with and without an alcohol use disorder. This typically means AA members and their loved ones, but also extends to community members, coworkers, bosses, and anyone interested in learning more about AA.

You can attend open speaker meetings to listen to experts talk about addiction and recovery topics. These meetings also allow members to tell their stories of alcohol use and recovery and how AA has helped in the process. Open discussion-style meetings focus on an AA topic that is brought up by a member and discussed by the group.

Closed Meetings

Virtually all AA communities have closed meetings available to their members, regardless of whether open meetings are also being held. Closed speaker and closed discussion meetings are just like open meetings, except they limit who can attend. Closed meetings are not open to the general public.

Attendance is free for both open and closed meetings. There is no intake process, and there is an expectation of anonymity and privacy, meaning that you do not discuss what happened in the meeting, what was shared, or who you saw there. This is a foundational principle of all types of AA meetings.

Beginners’ Meetings

While AA does not dictate a “treatment program” or require that you attend any specific meeting type, visiting beginners’ meetings may help you feel acclimated in the community. Beginners’ meetings focus on the fundamentals of early recovery that help with avoiding relapse.

You can share your experience, learn about resources, receive literature on recovery, and get help starting the 12 Steps. Some people complete their first steps in beginners’ groups.

Research shows that attending meetings can help you maintain sobriety by improving coping skills, finding ways to give back or provide services for helping others, building social support, and finding a feeling of purpose in life. Beginners’ groups provide a baseline model of AA.

12-Step Meetings

The 12 Steps of AA are guidelines created by the founders of AA. They discovered that taking 12 specific actions helped themselves and others they worked with at a hospital in Akron, Ohio abstain from alcohol.

The founders of AA considered these actions most important in the first year of sobriety, but the 12 Steps have become an accepted part of long-term recovery that can be repeated, completed nonlinearly, and returned to on an individual basis as needed.

Step work is an individual, personal endeavor, but 12-step meetings provide the opportunity for group study and discussion. If you choose to work with a sponsor—a peer mentor with experience in AA and step work—you would likely find them at a step meeting. In these meetings, you can expect one of two formats or a mix of both:

One step is focused on in each session, usually weekly.
Each member is encouraged to discuss their current step work, including their struggles, successes, and insights

Big Book Study Meetings

The Big Book is a nickname for Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism, written in 1939 by one of the founders of AA. From the history of AA and the 12 Steps to moving success stories, the Big Book is an excellent resource used to inspire people in recovery.

In Big Book meetings, you will study the principles behind AA and participate in discussions about recovery based on excerpts from the book.

Demographic-Specific Meetings

Some communities hold AA meetings focused on the individual needs of specific demographics. These include men’s and women’s AA meetings. LGBTQ meetings are also available for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and other members of the queer community.

These meetings are sensitive to the social stigmas and socioeconomic influences that impact individuals and may keep them from achieving recovery. For example, formal addiction treatment has historically focused solely on the needs of straight men, which made it harder for women and adolescents to get the targeted treatment they needed.

Individual demographics are also at higher risk for complicating factors of addiction. For example, LGBTQ individuals are more likely to experience family estrangement, social stigma, abuse, and harassment. This risk is profound for transgender people, especially transgender women of color.

Demographic-specific meetings accommodate these needs by creating safe spaces for AA members of shared demographics.

Substance-Specific Meetings

You may choose to attend other 12-step-based meetings specific to other substances in addition to AA. If you have a history with multiple substances, the community encourages you to attend any meetings that help you feel supported. Getting professional treatment for polysubstance disorder is also recommended.

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Behavior-Based Meetings

Many people have compulsive behavioral problems and mental health conditions, leading to co-occurring disorders. These topics are not always appropriate for discussion in a general AA meeting. However, because the 12 Steps can aid in overcoming these issues, special interest meetings allow individuals to seek support with impulsive and compulsive issues that do not involve substance use.

Examples of “behavioral addictions” include:

Gambling addictions
Sex addictions
Spending or shopping addictions

Special interest 12-step-style groups are also organized around mental health symptoms, including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), binge eating, and post-traumatic disorder (PTSD). Some of these groups address these needs broadly, while others have dedicated organizations, such as Depressed Anonymous (DA) and Overeaters Anonymous (OA).

Online Meetings

AA has worked diligently to create online support groups to be as supportive and accessible as possible. Online meetings are offered many times throughout the day and night and can provide you with proof of attendance. The number of online meetings has increased during the pandemic. You can choose AA only or special interest online meetings.

Meetings for Families

Alcoholism can affect family members, friends, partners, coworkers, and others in your life. There are various family structures in which one or more family members may be misusing alcohol, such as a two-person household, parent and child, blended family, parent of adult children, or adolescent with addiction living at home.

Each person can be affected differently, but a loved one’s addiction can often evoke feelings of worry, frustration, isolation, helplessness, and self-criticism.

AA’s sister meetings can help those close to you understand the disease of addiction, identify how they may have contributed to your problem, and learn how to support you in recovery.

Meetings available for loved ones include the following:

Alcoholics Anonymous Family Groups

Alcoholics Anonymous Family Groups (Al-Anon) is a 12-step program for the loved ones of people in recovery based on its own 12 Steps. Al-Anon provides support, encouragement, and education for family members.

Families Anonymous

Families Anonymous is similar to Al-Anon except that it addresses issues related to alcohol, drugs, and behavioral problems using the 12 steps.

Adult Children of Alcoholics

Anyone who grew up in a home that was unstable, unsafe, or chaotic due to an individual’s addiction can benefit from Adult Children of Alcoholics meetings.

Alateen

Teenagers who are living with someone experiencing alcohol use disorder or have otherwise been affected by someone else’s drinking can attend Alateen, a sub-group of Al-Anon.

Find the Right AA Meeting For You

While you have many options for peer support, many individuals also need formal addiction services. Many addiction treatment programs use 12-step peer meetings as part of their services, especially when transitioning individuals to an outpatient program. Call 800-948-8417 Sponsored today to learn more about your recovery options.