AA District 60 Information for Professionals

District 60 AA
In Eastern North Carolina
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Information for Professionals: if you are a professional, A.A. Members are available to cooperate with you. Clergy; Judges; Health Care & Treatment Facilities Professionals; Correctional Facilities Professionals; Media and News Professionals; Courts, Legal and Employee Assistance Professionals.
	AA meetings include:
		a. Open speaker meetings - open to alcoholics and nonalcoholics. (Attendance at an open meeting is the best way to learn what A.A. is, what it does and what it does not do.) b. At speaker meetings - 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. c. Open discussion meetings - one member speaks briefly about his or her drinking experience, and leads a discussion on A.A. recovery or any drinking related problem anyone brings up. (Closed meetings are for A.A.s or anyone who may have a drinking problem.) Closed discussion meetings - conducted just as open discussions are, but alcoholics and perspective A.A.s only. d. Step meetings (usually closed) - discussion of one of the Twelve Steps. e. Correctional and treatment facilities - A.A. members also take meetings into correctional and treatment facilities. f. Alcohol Safety Action Project (A.S.A.P.) - A.A. members may be asked to conduct informational meetings about A.A. as a part of A.S.A.P. or D.W.I. (Driving While Intoxicated) programs. These meetings about A.A. are not regular group meetings.
	MEMBERS FROM COURT PROGRAMS AND TREATMENT FACILITIES
	In recent years, A.A. groups have welcomed many new members from court programs and treatment facilities. Some have come to A.A. voluntarily; others under a decree or pressure. In our pamphlet "How A.A. Members Cooperate." the following appears: We cannot discriminate against any prospective member, even if he or she comes to us under pressure from a court, an employer or any other agency. Although the strength of our program lies in the voluntary nature of membership in A.A., many of us first attend meetings because we are forced to, either by someone else or by inner discomfort. But continual exposure to A.A. educated us to the true nature of the illness.... Who made the referral to A.A. is not what A.A. is interested in. It is the problem drinker that is our concern.... We cannot predict who will recover, nor have we the authority to decide how recovery should be sought by any other alcoholic.
	*PROOF OF ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS*
	Sometimes, courts ask for proof of attendance at A.A. meetings. Some groups allow that the chairperson or group secretary may initial or sign an attendance slip for the prospective member. There is no set procedure and each group may consent or not consent to sign a proof of attendance slip.