Lena Savoie
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a fellowship of people who come together to solve their drinking problems. AA has helped more than two million alcoholics achieve sobriety and recover from alcoholism. AA's program is built on the foundation of one alcoholic sharing their experience with another. AA does not claim to be anti-alcohol and does not wish to reform the world. AA's primary purpose is to help alcoholics achieve sobriety and recover from alcoholism through a spiritual awakening. AA's 12-step program is a suggested program of recovery that starts with members admitting to being powerless over alcohol. While AA has been effective for many people, some critics argue that it is not equipped to address the mental health issues that often accompany alcohol problems and that other treatment options should be available for problem drinkers who can manage their drinking with the right treatment.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To help alcoholics achieve sobriety and recover from drinking problems |
| Members | Anyone who wants to do something about their drinking problem |
| Cost | Free |
| Requirements | No age or education requirements |
| Approach | One alcoholic shares their experience with another |
| Beliefs | Alcoholism is an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer |
| Effectiveness | A 2020 Cochrane review concluded that AA is more effective than other treatments in terms of abstinence rates |
| Criticisms | AA is not equipped to address mental health issues, lacks professional training, and applies a one-size-fits-all approach |
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What You'll Learn
AA's 12 steps and traditions
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a fellowship of people who come together to solve their drinking problem. AA's primary purpose is to help alcoholics achieve sobriety. AA has helped more than two million alcoholics stop drinking. AA's program of recovery is built on the simple foundation of one alcoholic sharing their experience with another. AA's Twelve Steps are a set of spiritual principles. When practiced as a way of life, they can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to recover from alcoholism. The Twelve Traditions apply to AA as a whole. They outline how AA maintains its unity and relates itself to the world around it.
The "Twelve Steps" are the core of the AA program of personal recovery from alcoholism. AA's Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions explain the 24 basic principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. Known as the "Twelve and Twelve,” the book dedicates a chapter to each Step and each Tradition. Chapters provide an interpretation of these principles for personal recovery and the organization of the group. The Twelve Traditions (the Long Form) are also available in a playable format.
The Big Book, AA's bible, states: "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves." The 12 steps are so deeply ingrained in the United States that many people, including doctors and therapists, believe that attending meetings, earning sobriety chips, and never taking another sip of alcohol is the only way to get better. Hospitals, outpatient clinics, and rehab centers use the 12 steps as the basis for treatment.
However, AA is famously difficult to study. By necessity, it keeps no records of who attends meetings; members come and go and are, of course, anonymous. No conclusive data exist on how well it works. In 2006, the Cochrane Collaboration, a health-care research group, reviewed studies going back to the 1960s and found that “no experimental studies unequivocally demonstrated the effectiveness of AA or [12-step] approaches for reducing alcohol dependence or problems.”
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AA's effectiveness
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a fellowship of people who come together to solve their drinking problem. AA's primary purpose is to help alcoholics achieve sobriety and recover from alcoholism. AA has helped more than two million alcoholics stop drinking over its 80-year history. It does not cost anything to attend AA meetings, and membership is open to anyone who wants to address their drinking problem. AA welcomes new members but does not recruit them. It does not keep records of who attends meetings, and members are anonymous.
AA's program is based on the Twelve Steps, a set of spiritual principles that can expel the obsession to drink when practised as a way of life. The Twelve Steps are a suggested program of recovery, also called a "spiritual solution". They start with members admitting to being "powerless over alcohol", which the Big Book calls an "illness" or "malady". Members then seek guidance from an unspecified "higher power" to restore them to "sanity" and correct personal character defects. The Twelve Traditions apply to AA as a whole and outline how AA maintains its unity and relates to the world.
The effectiveness of AA is difficult to study due to the anonymous nature of the program. A 2006 review by the Cochrane Collaboration found no conclusive evidence that AA or 12-step approaches unequivocally reduced alcohol dependence or problems. However, a 2020 Cochrane review concluded that AA is more effective than other treatments such as MET and CBT in terms of abstinence rates. This review also found that AA participation via AA twelve-step facilitation (AA/TSF) had sustained remission rates 20-60% above other well-established treatments. Additionally, most of the economic studies in the review found that AA/TSF lowered healthcare costs.
Despite the positive outcomes of the 2020 Cochrane review, some critics argue that AA's one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable for all problem drinkers. Stanton Peele, for example, argues that other options should be readily available for problem drinkers who can manage their drinking with the right treatment. AA has also been criticised for lacking professional leadership and not adequately addressing the mental health issues that often accompany alcohol problems. Some argue that AA's doctrine places blame on individuals when the 12 steps don't work for them, stating that these individuals are deeply flawed or incapable of being honest with themselves.
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AA's stance on alcohol
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a fellowship of people who come together to solve their drinking problems. AA's primary purpose is to help alcoholics achieve sobriety. The group's program is built on the foundation of one alcoholic sharing their experiences with another. AA's program extends beyond abstaining from alcohol. Its goal is to effect a change in the alcoholic's thinking to bring about recovery from alcoholism through a spiritual awakening.
The Twelve Steps are a suggested program of recovery, also called a spiritual solution. The first step is to admit to being powerless over alcohol, which the Big Book calls an "illness" or "malady". The remaining steps involve making amends and seeking to correct personal character defects with the guidance of a higher power. AA's Twelve Traditions outline how the group maintains its unity and relates to the world around it. The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions are laid out in the book Alcoholics Anonymous, which is considered the group's bible.
AA has no wish to reform the world and is not anti-alcohol. The group does not recruit members and does not impose its experiences with problem drinking on others. AA welcomes anyone who wants to do something about their drinking problem, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income, or profession. Membership is free and anonymous. AA has helped more than two million alcoholics stop drinking.
AA has been criticised for its stance that those who do not recover from alcoholism are deeply flawed and incapable of being honest with themselves. AA's approach has been described as irrational, and some argue that it applies the disease model to all problem drinkers, even those who are not full-blown alcoholics. AA has also been criticised for lacking the professional training to address the mental health issues that often accompany alcohol problems. However, a 2020 Cochrane review concluded that AA is more effective than other treatments in terms of abstinence rates and lowering healthcare costs.
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AA's approach to mental health issues
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a fellowship of people who come together to address their drinking problem. AA's primary purpose is to help alcoholics achieve sobriety. AA's program is built on the simple foundation of one alcoholic sharing their experiences with another. AA does not keep records of who attends meetings, and members are anonymous, so there is no conclusive data on how well it works. AA's approach to mental health issues is informed by its understanding of alcoholism as a spiritual problem.
The Big Book, AA's bible, states that alcoholism is an illness that only a spiritual experience will conquer. The Twelve Steps are a suggested program of recovery, also called a spiritual solution. Members start by admitting to being powerless over alcohol, which the Big Book calls an illness or malady, and then seek to correct personal character defects with the guidance of a higher power. AA's approach is not based on medical or psychological treatment for mental health issues. Instead, it encourages members to connect with a higher power to restore their sanity and achieve sobriety.
Some critics argue that AA's approach is ineffective for addressing mental health issues. For example, AA's doctrine states that when the 12 steps don't work for someone, that person must be deeply flawed. This can be problematic because it places the blame on the individual and ignores the role of mental health issues in alcohol abuse. Additionally, AA leaders lack professional training in mental health, and the group's culture can be resistant to the idea that members may need therapy or medication in addition to AA's help.
However, AA's approach has helped more than two million alcoholics stop drinking. AA's program extends beyond abstaining from alcohol to effecting a change in the alcoholic's thinking and bringing about an entire psychic change or spiritual awakening. AA's Twelve Steps are a set of spiritual principles that, when practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable recovery from alcoholism. AA's approach is based on the idea that alcoholism is a spiritual problem that requires a spiritual solution, and this has been effective for many people seeking to recover from alcohol abuse.
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AA's history
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a fellowship of people who come together to solve their drinking problem. AA has helped more than two million alcoholics stop drinking. AA's program is built on the simple foundation of one alcoholic sharing their experience with another. AA's primary purpose is to help alcoholics achieve sobriety and recover from alcoholism. AA meetings are free to attend and open to anyone who wants to address their drinking problem.
The history of AA can be traced back to the first meeting between Bill W. and Dr. Bob in 1935. Bill Wilson, a recovering alcoholic, attended his first group gathering with the encouragement of his friend Thacher, who shared a message of sobriety through finding God or a "higher power". Within days, Wilson checked himself into hospital, where he experienced a bright flash of light, which he believed to be God revealing himself. This spiritual experience marked the beginning of Wilson's sobriety and the birth of AA.
AA's program extends beyond abstaining from alcohol to effecting a complete psychic change in the alcoholic's thinking. This spiritual awakening is achieved through the Twelve Steps, which begin with members admitting their powerlessness over alcohol and seeking guidance from a higher power. The Twelve Traditions help AA groups maintain their unity and connection to the world.
AA's Big Book, considered the bible of AA, defines alcoholism as an illness that can only be conquered through a spiritual experience. It emphasizes that those who do not recover are often those who cannot fully commit to the program. AA's approach has been influential, with its 12 steps being adopted as the basis for treatment in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and rehab centers.
While AA has helped many, it has also faced criticism. Some argue that AA's doctrine places blame on individuals when they struggle or relapse, and that it lacks the professional training to address the mental health issues often associated with alcohol problems. Researchers have also found it challenging to study AA's effectiveness conclusively due to its anonymous nature and varying experiences among members. Despite this, a 2020 Cochrane review concluded that AA participation was more effective than other treatments in terms of abstinence rates and reducing drinking problems, while also lowering healthcare costs.
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Frequently asked questions
AA's program is not just about abstaining from alcohol. It is about bringing about a psychic change in the alcoholic's thinking to bring about recovery from alcoholism. AA's Big Book calls alcoholism "an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer". AA does not impose its experience with problem drinking on others but shares it when asked to.
AA's Big Book states: "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path." However, AA is famously difficult to study as it keeps no records of who attends meetings. A 2006 review by the Cochrane Collaboration found that “no experimental studies unequivocally demonstrated the effectiveness of AA or [12-step] approaches for reducing alcohol dependence or problems.” A 2020 Cochrane review, however, concluded that AA is more effective than other treatments in terms of abstinence rates.
AA is not equipped to address mental health issues—its leaders lack professional training. Some meetings are more accepting than others of the idea that members may need therapy and/or medication in addition to the group’s help.
