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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, and audio/online.  We have a new meeting type (meeting_and_online) to support hybrid meetings, 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)
  • Men-OnlyA meeting attended by men only. 
  • Women OnlyA meeting attended by women only. 
  • Young Adult – Ages 18 to 26 years old 
  • ACA TeensAges 12 to 18 years old
  • LGBT+  - *Defined by individual meetings.  Some examples are:
    • For those who identify as LGBT+
    • For LGBT+ as well as allies  
    • The meeting focus is specific for LGBT+ ACAs
  • People of Color
  • Secular
  • Beginners - *Defined by individual meetings.  Some examples are:
    • Topics specific to beginners
    • Special portion of the meeting for beginners
    • Beginners only

Meeting Focus - *Defined by individual meetings 

  • Discussion – sharing time may or may not focus on a specific topic 
  • Fellowship Text – meeting uses topics from one of the fellowship texts to open sharing time
  • Book Study – meeting reads and sharing on one of the fellowship texts 
  • Steps – the focus of the meeting is discussing and/or doing work on the steps 
  • Speaker – meeting is led by a speaker and meeting may or may not decide to open the floor for sharing by attendees 
  • 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, see their description in the meeting list or contact the meeting directly.  

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