Information for Meetings and Groups

Tradition 4 states, "Each group is autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or ACA as a whole. We cooperate with all other Twelve-Step programs."

There are many types of ACA Meetings:  in-person (face to face), online, telephone.  We have a new meeting type hybrid which are in-person and also meeting online.  This new hybrid type allows meetings to appear on both the in-person listing and the online listing.  We encourage you to find the meetings that work for you.  New meetings can be registered online with our Meeting Registration Form. Resources for new and established meetings can be found on the Meeting Resources page. The WSO asks registered ACA meetings to verify/update their information at least once a year by submitting an updated meeting registration form.

Meeting Type and Format Definitions

Meeting Types:

• Closed – Only for people who self-identify under ACA’s Tradition 3, which states, “The only requirement for membership is a desire to recover from the effects of growing up in an alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional family.” 
• Open – Open to anyone (ACA members, family, friends, and/or professionals)
• ACA Teens - Only for those ages 12 to 18 years old
• Beginners - *Defined by individual meetings.  Some examples are:
  • Topics specific to beginners
  • Special portion of the meeting for beginners
  • Beginners only
• BIPOC - Black, Indigenous, People of Color
• LGBTQ+  - *Defined by individual meetings.  Some examples are:
  • For those who identify as LGBTQ+
  • For LGBTQ+ as well as allies  
  • The meeting focus is specific for LGBTQ+ ACAs
• Men-Only – A meeting attended by men only
• Secular/Agnostic/Atheist
• Women Only – A meeting attended by women only
• Young Adult – Only for those ages 18 to 26 years old 

Meeting Fomat - *Defined by individual meetings 

• 12 Step Yellow Workbook - our ACA workbook that focuses solely on the Steps
• A New Hope - for those new to ACA or those seeking all program tools in one place.
• ACA Concepts of Service - focused discussion on the 12 Concepts of ACA 
• Discussion – sharing time may or may not focus on a specific topic 
• Fellowship Text (BRB) – meeting reads from our Big Red Book
• Laundry Lists Workbook - focuses on the Laundry List, the Other Laundry List, and the flip side of each
• Loving Parent Guidebook - "The solution is to become your own loving parent"
• Speaker – meeting is led by a speaker and meeting may or may not decide to open the floor for sharing by attendees 
• Steps – the focus of the meeting is discussing and/or doing work on the steps 
• Strengthening My Recovery - our ACA meditation book
• Traditions - focused discussion on the ACA 12 Traditions
• Workshop – focused discussion around a topic – may be ongoing sessions – may be temporary

*More information on how individual meetings define their meeting types and focus may be shown in their description in the meeting list - or contact the meeting directly.