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Alcoholics Anonymous is the first and the largest of the 12 step programs. AA was designed for the treatment of alcoholism, it has helped millions of people around the world to find and maintain sobriety from alcohol. It is now present in dozens of countries around the world, and has many millions of members. It is hard to accurately gauge exactly how big Alcoholics Anonymous is, probably because of the word ‘anonymous’ in the organizations name, but if you are living in an even moderately industrialized nation that uses alcohol in a large scale, chances are there are some AA meetings near you. The now worldwide and extremely popular Alcoholics Anonymous program had a humble beginning, starting with just two guys. These men, hailed today as the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous and therefore the 12 step program, were Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith. The two men came from extremely different backgrounds, and just about the only thing they had in common was that they were both alcoholics. When they met in New York City in 1935, they complimented each others quirks and weakness, and soon came up with a method of finding sobriety that would literally change the world forever. The actual 12 step method in Alcoholics Anonymous that eventually developed from these founders is heavily based on the methods used by a Christian fellowship called the Oxford Group. The Oxford Group was an early 20th Century Christian organization committed to helping people with behavioral illnesses or assorted social deviances find ‘recovery’ through Christ. The method they used encouraged the same kinds of self-reflection, surrender to God, acknowledgment of character defects, restitution for wrongs committed, and working with others that would make up the 12 step program used in Alcoholics Anonymous, and now many other support group style meetings. The heavily religious and Christian foundation often scares some people away from Alcoholics Anonymous, but today the meetings are almost always absent of religious discussion that specifies a particular denomination. Any spiritual references made in meetings are usually applicable to any religion or system of beliefs. There are some Alcoholics Anonymous meetings specifically designed for a specific religion, such as Judaism, and of course in these meetings you can expect specific religions to be discussed. The group of people that has the most difficulty with the Alcoholics Anonymous program has always been atheists. Alcoholics Anonymous works on the principle that you give yourself over to some kind of ‘higher power’, and this is sometimes a roadblock for some atheists. There are however even meetings designed for atheists, and plenty of ways for getting around the dreaded ‘spirituality clause’. With meetings designed for all different types of people, all over the world, there is really no excuse not to give Alcoholics Anonymous a try if you are having problems with your drinking. And lets face it, if you’ve read this far, you probably have problems with your drinking.
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