- What is WSO...?
- What is ACA (ACoA)... ?
- Do my parents need to be alcoholics... ?
- What is the cost... ?
- Is ACA a religious organization?
- What is a Higher Power ... ?
- Where is a meeting... ?
- How do I find a meeting when there is none in my area?
- How do I start a meeting...?
- Can I attend a “Closed Meeting”?
- Why doesn't ACA link to other
sites...?
What is WSO ... ?
WSO is the World Service Organization of Adult Children of Alcoholics.
It acts as the central agency of the program, gathering and disseminating
meeting information; creating and distributing literature for use in the
Family Groups and provides information to the general public. Back to Top
Adult Children of Alcoholics is a recovery program for adults whose
lives were affected as a result of being raised in an alcoholic or other
dysfunctional family. It is based on the success of Alcoholics Anonymous
and employs its version of the Twelve Steps and
Twelve
Traditions.
No ! If you can identify with The Problem or have
several of the characteristics of the "Laundry List" ACA will benefit
you.
ACA is self-help, self-supporting program and according to our
Seventh
Tradition we finance our own way. If you are financially able we ask
for a small contribution at each meeting.
ACA provides a Spiritual path to recovery; it is not a religious organization, nor is it affiliated with any religion. As a Twelve Step organization, each person is encouraged to seek a Higher Power, or God, of their own understanding. For some, this may well be the God of their religious background or affiliation, the God of their church, synagogue, or mosque. For others, their Higher Power many simply come to be the supportive energy they feel and appreciate within their ACA group meeting. Still others come to replace a fearsome God of their childhood upbringing with a loving God, or Higher Power, they can come to trust. However we see God, as we work the ACA Twelve Steps of recovery, we find we cannot work our recovery program alone and instead come to rely on that Higher Power, or God, of our understanding to restore us to sanity.
ACA is a spiritual program, based on no particular religion or set of
beliefs but rather an understanding of a power greater than ourselves
that can aid us on our path to recovery. This Higher Power is as diverse
as the individuals of the group.
For a list of all the known ACA meetings please go to the Meetings Page.
Then you can verify the meeting of your choice by calling the local phone
number. Just as individuals recover and grow meetings are born and die as
the need arises or declines. WSO tries to keep the meeting information
current but cannot guarantee that every meeting listed is active. See the
next section for other options if there
are no ACA meetings listed in your local area.
Unfortunately, there are many areas around the world without any
ACA meetings. If you cannot find a meeting listed for your area,
check out the Telephone or Internet meeting; they are listed under the County
"Telephone" and "Internet" respectively. Another option would be to start a new
meeting in your area. See the next section...
If you checked the Meeting List and were unable to locate a
meeting nearby, you may wish to start an ACA meeting in your town. It's
easy. Start by downloading the "Guidlines for a new meeting" from the Literature page. This will give you all the basic materials needed for establishing and
running an ACA meeting. The ACA Fellowship Text also includes information
on starting a new meeting. For additional information, consider ordering a
New Meeting Packet to help in starting your meeting. Both the Fellowship Text
and New Meeting Packet are available for purchase in the the Shopping Cart.
Many ACA groups hold closed meetings, which means the meeting is reserved for those identifying as an adult child. Guests are asked to attend an open meeting, which is open to friends and relatives of the adult child. For some ACA members, closed meetings offer a sense of safety and stronger identification among those sharing or speaking at the meeting (extracted from the ACA Fellowship Text, page 566).
We do not provide links to other websites because of our Sixth
Tradition which states that we do not endorse any outside enterprise.
Since we have no control as to where other sites may lead and what they
may endorse we cannot violate this Tradition. We do grant other webs
permission to link to our site. Please link only to
www.adultchildren.org.
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