# 1 – How to Stay Away
from One Drink One Day at a Time
(In any series of beginners meetings there are usually new faces at
each session. Therefore, leaders have found that this topic should
always be included in every meeting.)
When we first came to A.A., many of us did not realize that the first
drink triggered the compulsion to drink more and more; that it deluded
us into thinking we could drink another safely, then another and another.
The danger seems obvious now, but many of today’s newcomers
are just as baffled as we once were. So the leader usually explains
the significance of the first drink – and how to avoid just that
one, for at least one day or one hour.
Almost every A.A. has a favorite means of doing this, and other members
attending a meeting can make suggestions for additions to the following:
- The twenty-four hour (or one-minute, if necessary) plan.
- The HALT
reminder – never getting too Hungry, Angry, Lonely,
or Tired.
- Sticking close to your sponsor and discussing personal problems
with him or her.
- Postponing the drink.
- Going to lots of A.A. meetings.
- Keeping pockets stuffed with A.A.
reading matter.
- Prayer – in whatever form the new member prefers
it.
- Changing routines – especially at drinking hours – to
break up the old habit patterns.
- Spending time with other members
individually – either in
person or on the telephone (and especially during old drinking hours).
- Spending
time in meeting rooms or central offices where A.A.s gather outside
of regular meeting hours.
- Starting work on the Twelve Steps, to
fight such threats to sobriety as resentments, self-pity, and the
tendency to dwell on
the past
or the future.
Back to Top # 2 – Alcoholism, the
Disease
Information on successful Twelfth Step work can be found throughout
the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Also check A.A.
Comes of Age.
Alcoholics usually have to face the medical facts of the disease,
as well as the present unmanageability of their own lives, before they
can accept help. This seems to be true even for newcomers who are forced
by pressure from others to come to A.A. for the first time.
The medical viewpoint on alcoholism that helped to bring about the
birth of A.A. is outlined in the chapter “The Doctor’s
Opinion” in Alcoholics Anonymous. It is explained
in further detail in the first three chapters of the Big Book, and
in the A.A. pamphlets “Three Talks to Medical Societies by Bill
W.” and “A.A. as a Resource for the Health Care Professional.”
Many good descriptions of the disease are used by A.A. members, such
as: “threefold illness,” “progressive disease,” “compulsion
plus obsession,” etc. (See the pamphlet “44 Questions,” included
in this packet.)
Many newcomers have also been helped by discussion of various definitions
of alcoholism, of the symptoms of the disease, of the uselessness of
misdirected willpower in combating alcoholism, of the futility in insisting
on an intellectual understanding of the condition before becoming willing
to practice the A.A. program.
Back to Top # 3 – How It Works:
The Twelve Steps Suggested as a Program of Recovery
Many of us wonder when we first approach A.A. just how it works.
That’s the title of Chapter V in Alcoholics Anonymous, of course. It is the heart of the A.A. message and is enclosed in this
packet.
Because the newcomer may have been told that “there are no musts
in A.A.,” it seems wise to explain that these suggested Steps
are a summary of actual past experience in recovery.
The men and women responsible for the Steps realized that they could
never reach in person many alcoholics who wanted their help. So they
knew they had to be especially careful to use the words that would
describe most honestly and completely the road they had taken.
Leaders of beginners meetings generally agree that newcomers are rarely
helped by ponderous sermonizing about the Twelve Steps, or by complicated
interpretations. The Steps speak plainly for themselves, and all newcomers
are, of course, free to interpret and use them as they individually
choose.
It is the leader's job to be sure that their exact wording is
made available to the newcomer. While newcomers may not be in the mood
for serious reading, the sooner they can read Alcoholics Anonymous the better. Some groups give it away, others sell it, many keep a “lending
library” of A.A. books; some award the Big Book or Twelve
Steps and Twelve Traditions as a “door prize.”
Back to Top # 4 – The Twelve Traditions:
What We Learn from A.A. Mistakes
The Traditions explain much of the seemingly contradictory behavior
that confuses newcomers when they first encounter a fellowship that
functions with so little obvious organization: “anonymity” – and
yet the occasional use of full names at meetings; “no dues or
fees” – and then the basket is passed.
A discussion of the origin of the Traditions, in relation to our earlier
mistakes, can answer many questions and allay many anxieties for newcomers.
By relating their own experiences in using the Traditions, leaders
can help newcomers understand the importance of principles before personalities,
of anonymity at the public, print or broadcast level, of the group
conscience, self-support, and A.A.’s nonaffiliation with other
organizations.
Knowing what A.A. does not do is as important for many of us as knowing
what it does do, so that we will not expect more than A.A. can deliver.
A list of services A.A. does not provide is given in the pamphlet “A.A.
in Your Community,” included in this packet.
If leaders want to feel secure in their own understanding of the Traditions,
it is recommended that they study carefully Twelve Steps and
Twelve Traditions and A.A. Comes of Age, plus
the pamphlet “The Twelve Traditions Illustrated,” also
enclosed.
Back to Top # 5 – A.A. in Print – Service
to Others
Most A.A.s agree that newcomers are entitled to know about all the
A.A. help available to them.
This includes A.A. literature published by A.A. World Services, Inc.,
which offers a large range of various kinds of A.A. help. It carefully
reflects the broadest possible consensus of the entire movement, worldwide – not
just some individual’s personal interpretation or some unique
local view.
Pointing out what these publications are, and what they contain, may
be one of the finest services we can give to newcomers, because we
are thereby encouraging them to dig out the answers for themselves.
Another gift of knowledge we can pass on to newcomers is information
about our Third Legacy of Service, helping them to understand their
own role as new links in our worldwide chain of love and service.
It is easy to explain just how A.A. is geared to serve alcoholics
after reading about it in the enclosed pamphlet “The A.A. Group.” In
addition, information about the general service structure appears in
brief form in the pamphlet “Inside A.A.,” also enclosed.
Back to Top #6 – Other Factors
in A.A. Recovery
In addition to the five suggestions above, many groups report that
their beginners meetings include discussions of these topics:
- The original
A.A. experience, as described in Alcoholics
Anonymous and A.A. Comes of Age.
- The desire
to be sober for oneself.
- Release from the compulsion and removal
of the obsession.
- Who can be a member of A.A. and how to join. Many
newcomers are greatly relieved at the absence of any official ritual, “signing
up,” or other procedure for becoming an A.A. member. Anyone
may attend open A.A. meetings. Membership in A.A. is open to
anyone with
a drinking problem. Dually addicted people are also eligible
for A.A. membership, if they have a drinking problem.
- Acceptance
of facts about ourselves; self-honesty as the basis of the program.
- The
Serenity Prayer.
- The A.A. Slogans.
- Sponsorship; how to get a sponsor, how to change
sponsors, if necessary. (See the enclosed pamphlet “Questions
and Answers on Sponsorship.”)
- The family (see Chapters 8 and
9, “To Wives” and “The
family Afterward,” in Alcoholics Anonymous) and
ways in which nonalcoholic relatives can get guidance in understanding
alcoholism
and thus helping the alcoholic (the Al-Anon Family Groups and
Alateen).
- The A.A. language. Most leaders of beginners meetings
agree that it is very important to explain any specialized A.A.
jargon
to newcomers.
Indeed, it is essential to make all discussions at these meetings
as simple and understandable as we can. Many newcomers arrive
with no
prior knowledge of A.A., and (as most of us recall from our own
histories) few newcomers are mentally in the best shape for rapidly
absorbing
complex information or ideas.
- Spiritual awakening. Ever since
Ebby T. first successfully twelfth-stepped Bill W., A.A.s have been
encouraged to arrive
at their own conception
of A.A. recovery tools. For a discussion of the role of a spiritual
awakening in recovery, see in Alcoholics Anonymous the
chapters “We Agnostics,” “Working with Others,” “A
Vision for You,” and “Spiritual Experience.” Also
refer to Step Twelve in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions and
in A.A. Comes of Age; plus the pamphlets “44
Questions” and “Questions
and Answers on Sponsorship.”
- Are sedatives dangerous for
alcoholics? (Refer to “The
A.A. Members – Medications and Other Drugs.”)
Back to Top
|