First and Foremost, Welcome!

We are glad you are here. The purpose of AA is to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. We stay sober by helping the newcomer and, more often than not, the newcomer helps those of us who have been in the program more than they know. We are a community built on reaching out and helping each other. We can’t do this alone.

If you step foot into any Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, chances are that you will hear suggestions for the newcomer. Many of these are directions of how based on experiences of how that person was able to get and remain sober. Although a newcomer at first may look at the suggestions as redundant or be skeptical, when you start to take some of the suggestions you will begin to see a significant change. Remember though suggestions are just that, suggestions; nothing is forced in AA. If you are ready and willing to get sober and stay sober, suggestions are what’s going to keep you on track. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Frequently Asked Questions

We are a Fellowship of men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking and have found ourselves in various kinds of trouble as a result of drinking. We attempt — most of us successfully — to create a satisfying way of life without alcohol. For this we find we need the help and support of other alcoholics in A.A.

No. A.A. does not keep membership files or attendance records. You do not have to reveal anything about yourself. No one will bother you if you don’t want to come back.

They will be there for the same reason you are there. They will not disclose your identity to outsiders. At A.A. you retain as much anonymity as you wish. That is one of the reasons we call ourselves Alcoholics Anonymous.

An A.A. meeting may take one of several forms, but at any meeting you will find alcoholics talking about what drinking did to their lives and personalities, what actions they took to help themselves, and how they are living their lives today.

We in A.A. know what it is like to be addicted to alcohol, and to be unable to keep promises made to others and ourselves that we will stop drinking. We are not professional therapists. Our only qualification for helping others to recover from alcoholism is that we have stopped drinking ourselves; and problem drinkers coming to us know that recovery is possible because they see people who have done it.

We in A.A. believe there is no such thing as a cure for alcoholism. We can never return to normal drinking, and our ability to stay away from alcohol depends on maintaining our physical, mental, and spiritual health. This we can achieve by going to meetings regularly and putting into practice what we learn there. In addition, we find it helps us to stay sober if we help other alcoholics.

You are an A.A. member if and when you say so. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking, and many of us were not very wholehearted about that when we first approached A.A.

There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership. An A.A. group will usually have a collection during the meeting to cover expenses, such as rent, coffee, etc., and to this all members are free to contribute as much or as little as they wish.

No. Nor is it allied with any religious organization.

The majority of A.A. members believe that we have found the solution to our drinking problem not through individual willpower, but through a power greater than ourselves. However, everyone defines this power as he or she wishes. Many people call it God, others think it is the A.A. group, still others don’t believe in it at all. There is room in A.A. for people of all shades of belief and nonbelief.

You’re already in the right spot! Feel free to reach out by email or by phone

401-438-8860 (R.I. Central Service) SRIIntergroup@RhodeIsland-AA.org
401-739-8777 (Southern R.I. Intergroup) RICS@RhodeIsland-AA.org

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