Alcoholics Anonymous
and Other 12 Step Programs
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
No program of recovery has helped more people with a drinking problem than AA. No other program reaches into almost every village, and into every town, city, state, and nation. Hardly any other program is free to you. The only requirement to attend AA? A desire to stop drinking.
No program and no meeting room is perfect. No treatment, whether for pneumonia or an addiction works 100% of the time. But AA works, and works better than alternative treatments, according to a Cochrane Collaboration review study.
The authors’ summary was:
There is high quality evidence that manualized AA/TSF* interventions are more effective than other established treatments, such as CBT, for increasing abstinence. Non‐manualized AA/TSF may perform as well as these other established treatments. AA/TSF interventions, both manualized and non‐manualized, may be at least as effective as other treatments for other alcohol‐related outcomes. AA/TSF probably produces substantial healthcare cost savings among people with alcohol use disorder.
Click here for the full review.
*TSF = Twelve-Step Facilitation, a therapy delivered in a counseling session (outside of the rooms) that helps a client understand and improve use of the 12-Step model.
ONLINE 12-STEP RESOURCES
Here are some helpful online resources so you take recovery on a layover.
- ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS ONLINE INTERGROUP has a list of interactive, online meetings all over the world.
- XA-speakers.org hosts THOUSANDS of recordings from all kinds of 12-Step meetings.
- The legendary JOE AND CHARLIE TAPES can be found here.
- SOBERCAST is a library of hundreds of speaker meeting uploads.
- Apple Podcasts Recovery Radio Network
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Birds of a Feather nests are based on 12-Step principles and are for pilots and other crewmembers to get 12-step help in groups just for aviation professionals.