What are the Different AA Meeting Topics?
Table of Contents
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings are a great place to find support and fellowship from other people who are struggling with alcohol addiction or problematic drinking that is causing unwanted side effects. At AA meetings, members share their experiences, strength, and hope with each other. This can be a very powerful and helpful experience, and it can and does help members to stay sober, a day at a time, as held by a common AA slogan.
There are many different types of AA meetings, and each one has its own focus. Some meetings are focused on sharing personal stories, while others are more focused on discussing the AA program and its Steps and Traditions. Some meetings are open to anyone, while others are only open meetings to women or men and others are for LGBTQ folks looking to stop drinking.
Keep reading to learn more about AA meetings and their discussion topics, and how the Rehabs Of Armerica team can help you find professional treatment options nationwide today!
The Basics: Attending AA Discussion Meetings
If you are new to AA, it can be helpful to attend a few different meetings to see which one is a good fit for you. You may want to try a few different types of meetings, including online meetings, or participate in different groups through varying locations throughout your area.
Knowing what AA meeting topic to expect when participating in these support groups can help you be prepared for your beginners meeting. Here are some common topics that are discussed at AA meetings:
- Personal stories of addiction and recovery
- The AA program and how it works
- How to stay sober
- Dealing with cravings and urges
- Coping with triggers
- Dealing with emotions
- Building a sober life
- Helping others
If you are struggling with alcohol addiction, AA meetings can be a great source of support and help. If you are not sure where to find an AA meeting, you can use the AA website to find a meeting near you.
6 Top AA Meetings Topics to Consider
If you are planning on attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, there are several suggested topics that are particularly important to be ready to participate in. Each of these can help you stay committed to maintaining sobriety, while requiring rigorous honesty about your drinking problem.
1. Spiritual Awakening
A spiritual awakening is a fundamental change in the way a person views themselves, the world, and their relationship to a higher power. It is often described as a feeling of peace, love, and gratitude. Spiritual awakenings can be sudden or gradual, and they can be experienced in many different ways.
In Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), spiritual awakening is seen as a key component of recovery. The AA Big Book states that “a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps [of AA] often brings about the necessary change in attitude and outlook, and enables the individual to become happily and usefully whole.”
There is no one right way to experience a spiritual awakening. Some people may have a sudden, dramatic experience, while others may have a more gradual and subtle change. There is no right or wrong way to experience a spiritual awakening, and what matters most is that it helps you to achieve sobriety and live a happy and fulfilling life.
2. Going Over the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions
Many AA meeting attendees can attest that the goal of these meetings is not perfection. Progression, promises, and perseverance are the primary purpose of this 12-step recovery group. There are twelve traditions that help support this goal, which go as:
- One tradition: Admitting powerlessness, practicing abstinence from drinking — through admitting your life has become unmanageable, you can give up power to God, letting him take control of your well-being.
- Two tradition: Coming to believe that a Higher Power can restore you from any physical disease, mental illness, or substance abuse problem.
- Three tradition: Making a decision to turn your own self and life over to the care of God as you understand Him to achieve success, happiness, and security.
- Four tradition: Making a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself, going over your economic insecurity, ego, lack of acceptance, self-centeredness or any other flaws that are keeping you from emotional sobriety.
- Five tradition: Be responsible, identify the exact nature of your wrongs and admit them to God, yourself, and another human being.
- Six tradition: Being entirely ready to have God remove all of your character defects and helping you become anew.
- Seven tradition: Humbly asking Him to remove your shortcomings and difficult emotions, feeling happier and more whole.
- Eight tradition: Making a list of all persons you have harmed due to your drug abuse, and becoming willing to make amends to them all.
- Nine tradition: Making direct amends for where you behaved or thought wrong, fixing your relationship and harm done when possible, unless doing so would cause further pain.
- Ten tradition: Continuing to take personal inventory and admitting when we are wrong, or express outside of this simple program contempt prior to investigation of a situation.
- Eleven tradition: Seeking in prayer and meditation to improve your conscious contact with God as you understand Him, praying for His knowledge and how you can, in anonymity, bring the power to carry out His will.
- Twelve tradition: With your spiritual awakening through these Steps, you will carry this message to other alcoholics, and continue practicing these principles in each of your affairs.
3. The Lengths of Recovery
When it can be tempting to have just one drink, staying sober can feel impossible. Most AA meetings will discuss the lengths of which members are willing to go to stay sober. Chapter 5 of the AA Big Book states that members should be willing to go to any lengths to maintain their sobriety.
For long-time members of the recovery group, this is not an unreasonable expectation for their life’s terms. Literature used in AA speaks of lengths, willingness, wisdom and patiently waiting for it to become easier to avoid drinking.
This topic has several directions that it can take when used in meetings. Learning how to overcome an emotional hangover, for starters, and turn negative thoughts and behaviors into positive ones. This may include trying to replace negative feelings with their opposites. Instead of gratitude, greed. Instead of jealousy, joy.
4. Mental Illness and Addiction
One of the many topics that come up in these meetings is the connection between mental health and addiction. People with mental health conditions are more likely to develop addiction, and people with addiction are more likely to have mental health conditions.
There are a number of reasons for this link. One reason is that people with mental health conditions may use substances to self-medicate. They may use drugs or alcohol to numb their pain, escape from reality, or cope with difficult emotions.
Another reason for the link between mental health and addiction is that both conditions can be caused by changes in the brain. For example, people with depression and anxiety have been shown to have changes in the brain’s reward system, which is involved in processing pleasure.
People with addiction also have changes in this system, which may make them more vulnerable to the rewarding effects of drugs and alcohol. When participating in a 12-step program, spirituality, sponsorship, and support are seen as integral to maintaining physical and emotional sobriety.
5. Triggers and Preventing Relapse
Any AA member can attest to the fact that staying sober is not always easy. There are many temptations that can make staying abstinent more difficult. The temptation to drink in moderation, money troubles and stress, and a lack of ways to pass time can all tempt a recovering individual back into their old habits.
It is important to remember that your first drink after being in recovery can quickly turn into multiple drinks, and it can be hard to stop once you have started. Knowing how to recognize your triggers and manage them is crucial to maintaining your sobriety.
Triggers are anything that can cause a person to use drugs or alcohol again after they have been in recovery. Triggers can be internal or external. Internal triggers are thoughts, feelings, or memories that remind the person of their addiction. External triggers are people, places, or things that are associated with the person’s addiction.
Some of the most common include:
- Stress: Stress is a common trigger for relapse. When people are stressed, they may turn to drugs or alcohol as a way to cope.
- Boredom: Boredom can also be a trigger for relapse. When people are bored, they may feel restless and anxious, which can lead to cravings for drugs or alcohol.
- Emotional pain: Emotional pain, such as grief, anger, or sadness, can also be a trigger for relapse. People may use drugs or alcohol to numb the pain or to escape from their feelings.
- Certain people or places: People who are in recovery may be triggered by certain people or places that are associated with their addiction. For example, someone who used to drink heavily at bars may be triggered by being in a bar.
- Certain activities: Certain activities can also be triggers for relapse. For example, someone who used to use drugs while playing video games may be triggered by playing video games.
It is important to identify your triggers so that you can develop coping mechanisms to deal with them. When participating in an AA program, focusing on your “now step,” and saying a simple serenity prayer or a mantra, such as “one day at a time,” can be all you need to keep yourself on track.
Having other methods of staying calm and collected while maintaining your sobriety is also important. Some of these include:
- Exercise: Exercise is a great way to relieve stress and improve your mood.
- Relaxation techniques: Relaxation techniques, such as yoga or meditation, can help you to calm down and manage your stress.
- Talking to someone: Talking to your sponsor, a therapist, counselor, family members or friends can help you to work through your emotions and develop healthy coping mechanisms.
6. The Importance of Gratitude
When participating in an AA group, many members will express the idea that gratitude is a powerful emotion with many benefits for mental and physical health. In addiction recovery, gratitude can be especially helpful for:
- Boosting motivation: When you focus on the things you are grateful for, it can help you stay motivated to stay sober and work towards your recovery goals.
- Reducing stress: Gratitude can help reduce stress levels by helping you to focus on the positive aspects of your life and let go of negative thoughts and emotions.
- Improving sleep: Gratitude can help improve sleep quality by promoting relaxation and reducing anxiety.
- Increasing happiness: Gratitude can help increase happiness levels by helping you to appreciate the good things in your life and focus on the positive.
- Reducing cravings: Gratitude can help reduce cravings for alcohol or drugs by helping you to focus on the negative consequences of addiction and the positive benefits of sobriety.
Balancing Spirituality With Evidence Based Treatment
While the spiritual and emotional support provided by twelve-step recovery groups like AA can be helpful, it is important to always balance this with evidence-based and clinical treatment.
Evidence-based addiction treatment is important because it has been shown to be more effective than other types of treatment in the reduction of drug use and cravings, the improvement of family bonds and healthy interpersonal relationships, and a decreased risk of relapse.
There are many different types of evidence-based addiction treatment, including medical detox, inpatient and outpatient treatment, medication-assisted treatment, and behavioral therapies. When seeking professional treatment, there will be many benefits that come with this decision:
- Improved safety: When recovering from an alcohol use disorder, the first twenty-four hours of your recovery can be not only difficult but dangerous. Having access to professional medical care can help make sure you are staying safe and on track with your recovery.
- Increased chances of sobriety: Studies have shown that people who receive evidence-based addiction treatment are more likely to stay sober than those who do not receive treatment.
- Improved quality of life: Evidence-based addiction treatment can help people to improve their overall quality of life by reducing their drug use, improving their relationships, and finding employment.
- Reduced risk of relapse: Evidence-based addiction treatment can help people to reduce the risk of relapse by teaching them coping skills and helping them to develop a strong support system.
Get Help to Begin Sobriety Today!
If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction and are ready to get professional help, the Rehabs Of Armerica team is here to help. We work with an extensive network of rehab facilities nationwide that provide evidence-based and comprehensive care.
Our hotline is available 24/7 to help answer all of your recovery questions and find a treatment center that is right for all of your needs. Give yourself a chance at sobriety, and call now to get started today!
FAQs on AA Meeting Topics and Formats
What is the Topic of Fear in AA?
The Big Book of AA says that people are “driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity.” It is believed that these are the driving factors of addictive behavior, and without finding healthy ways of fighting these fears can make people suffer greatly.
Many AA conversations will be centered around the topic of fear, and how members can battle their fears through spirituality and surrendering to God.
Can I Suggest a New Topic for an AA Meeting?
While there are certain AA meeting topics that are generally expected to be discussed, this does not mean there is no freedom for conversation. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you are meant to share your experiences honestly and openly when attending these meetings.
I grew up in beautiful southern California and I find my spirituality in nature and love the outdoors. I also enjoy surfing and snowboarding. My recovery is extremely important to me, and I cherish every day I get to spend on this Earth sober.
