There are more than , A. Our policy: We allow readers to print one copy only, for personal use. If you live in the United States or Canada, a selection of translated books, booklets, pamphlets and other materials is available for purchase via our A. We encourage you to order literature locally, via your local central offices and intergroups. We do this because sales of literature help fund Twelfth Step service around the world and because purchasing locally supports A.
For items not available on our website or via our webstore, please contact the local international service structures via their websites. If you need help, contact customer service at orders aa. International desk at international aa. Since its inauguration in , the World Service Meeting WSM has provided an ongoing international forum for shared experience and ideas on carrying the A.
Due to the pandemic, the 26th World Service Meeting was held virtually, in November The primary purpose of the World Service Meeting is the same as that of all A. The World Service Meeting seeks ways and means of accomplishing this goal by serving as a forum for sharing the experience, strength, and hope of WSM delegates who come together every two years from all parts of the world.
Described as a living and growing exchange of experience responding to the needs of A. A detailed report of the biennial World Service Meeting includes presentations, country service highlights, committee reports, reports of interim and zonal meetings and workshop reports. The 11th World Service Meeting W. Web Banners. Site Help. What's New. Read Daily Reflections. Make a Contribution. Go to Online Bookstore. The "helper" theory, first coined in the s, helps explain AA's efficacy, says Krentzman.
The helper ends up feeling better too. Most, if not all, of those running step groups are themselves undergoing treatment for addiction. Sponsors act as a spiritual, emotional and practical guide. Treatment is always ongoing in AA, unlike some other traditional rehabilitation programmes which offer short programmes followed by the addict coping largely alone.
Marijuana Anonymous has "exactly the same format", explains Thomas, a member. But AAWS does grant permission for groups to use the 12 steps. And AA's principles are still regularly criticised. Some dislike the quasi-religious element, others the emphasis on complete abstinence rather than the possibility of moderate consumption.
There's also a new film - The 13th Step - about sexual assaults carried out by AA members on other members. But perhaps the greatest criticism is from those who want concrete evidence that this widely accepted programme actually produces results. A review of scientific studies of Alcoholics Anonymous' success in aiding sobriety in found that "no experimental studies unequivocally demonstrated the effectiveness of AA".
Dr Lance Dodes, a former substance abuse treatment specialist, wrote in a book about step programmes that: "Alcoholics Anonymous was proclaimed the correct treatment for alcoholism over 75 years ago despite the absence of any scientific evidence of the approach's efficacy, and we have been on the wrong path ever since.
Another bone of contention is that porting across the step programme to other areas offers cultural legitimacy to the idea of a wide range of compulsions as addictive diseases.
Scientists continue to be divided over whether food addiction really exists. They are torn as to whether sex addiction is real or not. It does not, for example, appear in the American Psychiatric Association's list of mental disorders. But for many, the programme is effective. Krentzman notes: "It works because of a psychological process, a social process, a spiritual process.
Because of the way it gives people a sense of community and knowing other people who have the same problem. That's something Jennifer, who attends Overeaters Anonymous, agrees with. She joined the group in , when she was 37 years old and and-a-half stone. Today, she is at a more manageable weight, and attributes that to her ongoing relationship with the fellowship of overeaters.
There was an authenticity to what they were saying. In the AA meeting in Newcastle, 40 people sit and share stories of addiction. Aftewards, there are firm handshakes and friendly conversations - smiles and shared jokes.
One by one, they file out the door into the crowds toting shopping bags, looking like anyone else. But in their mind, they carry an extra weight with them throughout the week.
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