Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings in California

What Is Alcoholics Anonymous?

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international fellowship of individuals who come together to support one another in achieving and maintaining sobriety from alcohol addiction.

Los Angeles AA Meetings

Meetings:

• Monday – Friday at 6:30 AM (open discussion)
• Tuesday at 8:00 PM (closed men’s group)
• Saturday at 10:30 AM (open speaker meeting)

San Francisco AA Meetings

Meetings:

• Monday – Thursday at 12:00 PM (open discussion)
• Friday at 7:00 PM (closed women’s group)
• Sunday at 9:00 AM (open speaker meeting)

San Diego Central Office

Meetings:

• Monday – Wednesday at 5:30 PM (open discussion)
• Thursday at 7:00 PM (LGBTQ meeting)
• Saturday at 11:00 AM (open speaker meeting)

The 12 Steps of AA

AA outlines a 12-step program to help members achieve and maintain sobriety. The steps aim to motivate members to make positive changes in their lives.

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Getting Started with AA in California

Use the meeting search on udetc.org to find local meetings in your area. Both in-person and online/virtual meetings are available in most places across California.

Attending Your First Local AA Meeting

California has both open and closed AA meetings:

• Open meetings – Anyone can attend, including non-alcoholics. These focus on introducing newcomers to AA.
• Closed meetings – Only those with a desire to stop drinking may attend. These involve more sharing by members.

Arrive early to your first meeting and introduce yourself as a new local member. Share your experiences if you feel comfortable. You may receive welcome keychain tags marking sobriety milestones:

• 30 days
• 60 days
• 90 days
• 6 months
• 9 months
• 1 year
• 18 months
• Multiple years

The most important things are attending regularly, participating if willing, respecting others’ anonymity, and remembering that each person’s sobriety experience is personal. AA provides support through shared struggles and the comfort of understanding. Stay as long as you wish – meetings generally last an hour or so. Newcomers are always welcome.