A Resource for Professionals
- If you are a professional who helps alcoholics… A.A. wants to work with you!
- Cooperation with the professional community is a goal of A.A. and has been since our beginnings.
- Professionals who work with alcoholics share a common purpose with Alcoholics Anonymous: to help the alcoholic stop drinking and lead a healthy, productive life.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a nonprofit, self-supporting, entirely independent fellowship — “not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution.” Yet A.A. is able to serve as a resource to you through its policy of “cooperation but not affiliation” with the professional community. We can serve as a source of personal experience with alcoholism and as an ongoing support system for recovering alcoholics.
Review our Additional Resources for Professionals page to download A.A. pamphlet
How the Program Works
A.A.’s primary purpose, as stated in our Preamble, is: “to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.” The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. Members share their experiences of recovery from alcoholism on a one-to-one basis and introduce the newcomer to A.A.’s Twelve Steps of personal recovery and its Twelve Traditions, which sustain the Fellowship itself.
At the heart of the program are its meetings, which are conducted autonomously by A.A. groups in cities and towns throughout the world, even in jails, institutions and on military bases.
Anyone may attend open meetings of A.A. These usually consist of talks by one or more speakers who share impressions of their past illness and their present recovery in A.A. Some open meetings — to which helping professionals, the media and others are invited — are held for the specific purpose of informing the nonalcoholic (and possibly alcoholic) public about A.A.
Closed meetings are for alcoholics only. Alcoholics recovering in A.A. generally attend several meetings each week.
Anonymity helps the Fellowship to govern itself by principles rather than personalities; by attraction rather than promotion. We openly share our program of recovery, but not the names of the individuals in it.
What A.A. Does NOT Do
A.A. does not: Furnish initial motivation for alcoholics to recover; solicit members; engage in or sponsor research; keep attendance records or case histories; join “councils” or social agencies (although A.A. members, groups and service offices frequently cooperate with them); follow up or try to control its members; make medical or psychological diagnoses or prognoses; provide detox, rehabilitation or nursing services, hospitalization, drugs, or any medical or psychiatric treatment; offer religious services or host/sponsor retreats; engage in education about alcohol; provide housing, food, clothing, jobs, money or any other welfare or social services; provide domestic or vocational counseling; accept any money for its services or any contributions from non-A.A. sources; provide letters of reference to parole boards, lawyers, court officials, social agencies, employers, etc.
Referrals from Judicial, Health Care, Military, or other Professionals
Today numerous A.A. members come to us from judicial, health care, military or other professionals. Some arrive voluntarily; others do not. A.A. does not discriminate against any prospective member. Who made the referral to A.A. is not what interests us — our concern is the problem drinker.
Singleness of Purpose and Problems Other Than Alcohol
Some professionals refer to alcoholism and drug addiction as “substance abuse” or “chemical dependency.” Nonalcoholics are, therefore, sometimes introduced to A.A. and encouraged to attend A.A. meetings. Nonalcoholics may attend open A.A. meetings as observers, but only those with a drinking problem may attend closed meetings.
A.A. Members and Medications
A.A. does not provide medical advice; all medical advice and treatment should come from a qualified health care professional. The suggestions provided in the pamphlet “The A.A. Member — Medications and Other Drugs” may help A.A. members minimize the risk of relapse.
How to Make Referrals to A.A. Alcoholics Anonymous in New Hampshire can be found on the Internet at www.nhaa.net or by searching online for “Alcoholics Anonymous” or “A.A.”
Are you a Professional looking for more information about A.A. for a client, patient or employee?
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