What Is Alcoholics Anonymous? AA Explained Simply

When people ask what AA is, the simplest answer is this: a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other so that they may solve their common problem and help others recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.

What AA Is — and Isn't

AA is not a religious organization, a treatment program, or a social club. It has no dues or fees. It is not affiliated with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution. It takes no positions on outside issues. Its primary purpose is to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. That's it. That's everything.

How It Works

AA works through one alcoholic sharing their experience with another. The Big Book calls this the 12th Step: carrying the message. Meetings provide a space where this happens regularly. Sponsorship provides it one-on-one. The program's track record across 90 years and millions of members is based on this simple mechanism — one person helping another, freely, because they were helped themselves.

Read the Big Book — the foundation of AA — word for word in AABlueBook, with a built-in 1930s dictionary. Free year on iOS: bit.ly/aabfree. Android free month: FREEMONTHFL.