In Oxford County you can contact the A.A. by the 24Hr Answering service (519) 438-1122. You will be contacted by a volunteer A.A. member who will answer your questions about A.A. and help you get to an A.A. meeting should you wish to attend. You may also send an email to meetings@oxfordaa.com. with the subject line "AA or Alcoholics Anonymous. It may take a few days before you get a response.

How can I determine if I'm an alcoholic?

When A.A. members state they are alcoholics, they have come to this conclusion for themselves. If you have concerns about your drinking, you might want to refer to our booklet "Is A.A. for You ?", which asks questions that are helpful in making your own assessment. Attendance at A.A. meetings will also help you to understand your drinking better. There, A.A. members will share their experiences with you and encourage you to take an honest look at what part alcohol plays in your life. Alcoholics usually identify quite readily with the experiences of other alcoholics, whereas non-alcoholics will not.

How do the A.A. program and meetings work? Who can attend?

1. A.A. members share their experience with anyone seeking help with a drinking problem; they give person-to-person service or "sponsorship" to the alcoholic coming to A.A. from any source.
2. The A.A. program, set forth in our Twelve Steps, offers the alcoholic a way to develop a satisfying life without alcohol.
3. This program is discussed at A.A. group meetings.
   
   a) Open Speaker Meetings: Open to alcoholics and non-alcoholics. Here A.A. members "tell their stories". They describe their experiences with alcohol, how they came to A.A., and how their lives have changed as a result of A.A.
   
   b) Open Discussion Meetings: Open to alcoholics and non-alcoholics. One member speaks briefly about his or her drinking experience, and then leads a discussion on some aspect of A.A., recovery, or any drinking-related problem anyone brings up.
   
   (Open meetings can provide interested family members or friends an opportunity to learn more about what A.A. is, what it does, and what it does not do. They often come with the A.A. member as support.)
   
   c) Closed Discussion Meetings: These are for alcoholics or prospective A.A.'s only. They are conducted in much the same manner as Open Discussion meetings.

A.A. has a tradition which states:
"the only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stopdrinking"

Usually what happens is that the prospective member attends a few meetings,decides he/she wishes to join, and then chooses a particular meeting as a "home group". Any type of participation in an A.A. meeting is purely voluntary... members are not required to do anything, although active participation in the group is encouraged as part of the individual's recovery.

Speaker  meetings consist mainly of a main speaker that usually reviews his or her past drinking experiences that led to their arrival at A.A.,followed by his or her interpretation of the recovery program and how they apply it to their life. Participation is limited to the speaker who is a volunteer (speaking at A.A. meetings is not a requirement of membership).