Alcoholics Anonymous for Addiction Treatment & Recovery

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global fellowship of people coming together to help one another recover from alcohol addiction. Founded in 1935, AA is a self-help program focused on mutual support, empowering members to share experiences, struggles, and successes in maintaining sobriety and helping others do the same. 

AA is not affiliated with any religion, though it does promote spiritual development and personal growth as part of the AA recovery process. It encourages members to locate a higher power of their own definition and understanding. AA meetings are held in person or online and provide a “safe space” for people to support one another. AA is free and open to anyone who has a desire to stop drinking, regardless of background, age, or spiritual beliefs. AA is entirely self-supported through voluntary contributions.¹

AA works as a peer-led support group that helps people struggling with AUD maintain their sobriety through the sharing of experiences within a structured recovery program. It is not a formal treatment program so much as a fellowship of people helping one another stay sober.  

AA operates on the core belief that people who have experienced addiction are uniquely qualified to support others facing similar challenges. AA meetings provide a safe, nonjudgmental space wherein members can speak openly about their progress and their challenges. It follows a structured format of sharing, reading from AA literature, and discussing AA principles. 

A central component of AA is the “12 Steps,” a spiritual framework for remaining sober and growing as a person. AA encourages members to seek the solace and guidance of a “higher power” as they work through the steps. Anonymity is a key principle of AA, helping members to feel comfortable about disclosing personal details.²

The 12 Steps of AA

AA is built on the simple yet powerful idea that people who have found sobriety can connect with and support those still struggling with alcohol more effectively. Put simply, AA works when a recovering addict passes along their story of problematic drinking and recovery and invites people who are new to AA to join the program.³ 

At the center of the AA approach is the 12 Steps, a set of guiding principles shaped by the experiences of the program’s founders and earliest members. The 12 Steps of AA are:³ 

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable. 
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. 
3. Decided to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 
8. Made a list of all the people we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. 
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. 

History of AA: The Big Book 

The AA program quickly grew in membership and influence, so the need arose to document the stories and principles that helped people recover from alcohol addiction. In 1939, AA published Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism. 

Now widely known as “The Big Book,” Alcoholics Anonymous outlines the AA philosophy, introduces the 12 Steps, and shares first-person accounts of recovery. “The Big Book” has for nearly 100 years served as the basis of the entire AA program and has been read by millions all over the world.⁶ 

AA Meetings in Atlanta 

AA is free to attend and available in a wide range of formats, including in-person meetings, online meetings, and phone calls. As a major metropolitan area, Atlanta hosts a healthy mix of online and in-person meetings for anyone looking to quit drinking and find support. Some notable in-person AA meeting venues around Atlanta include: 

• Edgewood Church (1560 Memorial Drive SE, 30317 hosts AA meetings four nights a week. 
• Emory Presbyterian Church (1886 North Decatur Rd, Atlanta, 30307) hosts a 12-Step recovery meeting on Friday evenings. 
• The H.O.W. Place (5881 Old Bascomb Rd, Acworth, 30102) is an AA meeting clubhouse located north of Marietta. It hosts multiple 12-Step meetings each day. 
• The Atlanta Triangle Club (702 Lakeshore Circle, Atlanta, 30324) provides space for 29 different groups conducting more than 70 recovery meetings each week. The Triangle Club provides meeting space not just to AA but for Al-Anon, Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Cocaine Anonymous (CA), and Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA). 
• Galano Club (585 Dutch Valley Rd NE, 30324) is a LGBTQ+‑friendly fellowship that hosts 12-Step meetings throughout the week. 

For information about other recovery meetings in the Atlanta area, check the Metro Atlanta’s Central Office of Alcoholics Anonymous page.