In short: Every recovery group runs its own meeting finder on its own website, and most list online meetings as well as rooms near you, so a meeting tonight is usually a few taps away. Pick the group that sounds closest to what you want, search for today, and go. At your first meeting you can sit, listen and leave: nobody has to speak.
The fastest way to a meeting tonight
If it's late, or you're not ready to walk into a room, an online meeting is often the quickest way in. The short version:
- Pick a group. The descriptions below will help. You aren't signing up for life, and you can try a different one tomorrow.
- Open that group's own finder and filter for today, and for online or in person.
- Choose one that starts soon. For a first time in a room, a meeting marked open or for beginners can be an easier start.
- Arrive a few minutes early, in person or online. You can leave whenever you want.
Meeting times and places are set by local groups and can change, so check with the group before you head out if you can.
The main groups, and where each one lists meetings
These are the main mutual-help groups in the US. Each describes itself differently, so here is each one in a line or two, and its official way to find a meeting.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
Twelve steps, a sponsor, and a higher power of your own understanding, which for many members is simply the group. Most meetings are people sharing their own experience with drinking.
- Find A.A. on aa.org points you to your local A.A. office and its meetings.
- Meeting Guide is A.A.'s free app for iPhone and Android, with local meeting lists in one place.
- Online and phone meetings are in Meeting Guide too, and the Online Intergroup of A.A. can show you online meetings happening right now.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
The same twelve steps and sponsorship, for people whose drug use has become a problem, whatever the drug.
- Search for meetings on na.org, NA's own site.
SMART Recovery
Secular and science-based, for any substance or behavior. No steps, no sponsors and no higher power: meetings are discussions of practical tools, led by trained facilitators.
- The SMART meeting finder lists online and in-person meetings, and the free SMART Recovery app finds them too.
Recovery Dharma
Peer-led and Buddhist-inspired, for addiction of any kind. Every meeting includes meditation, and you don't need to be Buddhist.
- Recovery Dharma's meeting list covers online, hybrid and in-person meetings.
LifeRing Secular Recovery
Secular and abstinence-based, with no steps and no sponsors. Meetings are conversations: a convenor often opens with "How was your week?" and people talk with each other.
- The LifeRing meetings calendar lists online and in-person meetings. Online meetings need no sign-up.
Women for Sobriety
For women recovering from alcohol and other substances, built on thirteen Acceptance Statements about self-worth. Meetings are small.
- WFS meetings are held in person and online by Zoom, and you can dial in to an online meeting by phone.
Celebrate Recovery
A Christ-centered twelve-step ministry run by local churches, for any "hurts, habits and hang-ups", not only substances. A typical night has worship and a lesson, then smaller share groups for men and for women.
- The Group Finder on celebraterecovery.com lists local groups, and there is a weekly online group. You don't need to register ahead of time.
For families: Al-Anon and Nar-Anon
These are for the people who love someone who drinks or uses. The focus is the member's own peace of mind, whether or not their person gets help.
- Al-Anon, for anyone affected by someone else's drinking, lists meetings in person, by phone, online and in its own mobile app.
- Nar-Anon, for relatives and friends of someone with a drug problem, lists in-person and virtual meetings.
- SMART Recovery also runs Family & Friends meetings, in the same meeting finder.
Open or closed: which meetings you can go to
Twelve-step listings usually mark each meeting open or closed.
- Open meetings welcome anyone interested. At AA, people without a drinking problem can attend open meetings as observers, so family and friends can come too.
- Closed meetings are for people who have the problem the group is about and want to stop. For AA, that means members and anyone with a desire to stop drinking.
If you want to stop, you're welcome at both. If someone is coming along for moral support, pick an open meeting. You'll also see labels like speaker, discussion, step study, women, men and LGBTQ+. A beginners meeting is built for exactly where you are: in AA, it's usually led by a member who has been sober a while, to help newcomers.
What happens at your first meeting
Formats differ, but a first meeting usually goes something like this.
- Before it starts. People chat, sometimes over coffee. Someone may notice you're new and say hello. You can also just take a seat.
- The opening. In AA, the chair usually reads a short opening statement, and some groups add a moment of silence or a prayer. The chair may ask if anyone new would like to introduce themselves. It isn't required.
- Sharing. Members talk about what drinking or using did to their lives, what they did about it, and what life is like now. You may hear something that sounds a lot like your own story.
- Other formats. SMART meetings discuss tools, with a facilitator. Recovery Dharma meetings open with a short guided meditation, then a reading and sharing. LifeRing meetings go around with "How was your week?"
- After. People often stay and talk, and some may offer to help. Staying is up to you.
Privacy is part of the deal. In AA, the one obligation is not to share the names of the people you saw there outside the meeting. A first name is plenty, and so is no name.
You don't have to speak, and you can try several
You never have to say a word. A.A. says plainly that you don't have to speak, and it's fine to decline for any reason. SMART Recovery says the same: participation is voluntary, and many people just listen at their first meeting. If someone asks, this is a complete answer:
"I'm new. I'll just listen tonight."
One meeting isn't the whole program. Every group feels different, and so does every room within a group: the time, the size, the ages, the mood. SMART encourages newcomers to go to more than one meeting to get a fuller picture, which is fair advice for any group.
- Give a group two or three different meetings before you decide it isn't for you.
- If a program's language doesn't fit you, try another. Plenty of people go to more than one.
- It's fine to leave early, and fine to go back to the same meeting because one person there was kind.
When you need more than a meeting
Meetings are mutual help, not medical care. Some people need treatment too, and many use both.
- Stopping some substances suddenly can be dangerous. If you drink heavily every day, or take benzodiazepines, other sedatives or opioids every day, talk to a doctor before you stop. Withdrawal can cause seizures and can be life-threatening. The SAMHSA National Helpline, 1-800-662-4357, can help you find detox, free, any hour. If a seizure, confusion, seeing things or chest pain happen, call 911.
- Finding treatment.FindTreatment.gov is SAMHSA's confidential and anonymous site for finding treatment in the US, with filters for the type of care and how you'll pay. SAMHSA's National Helpline gives free, confidential referrals and information, any hour. SAMHSA also describes the kinds of treatment that exist. What's right for you is a question for a doctor.
Finding meetings in Free and Sober
In the Free and Sober app, the Meetings tab takes a ZIP code or a city. At launch, tapping Find meetings shows meetings near that place, with listings from local AA intergroups and NA's meeting system. The app never asks for location permission: it uses the place you type for that one search and doesn't keep it.
When you find a meeting you want to keep going to, you can add it to the calendar in the app, set it to repeat every week, and pick a reminder, from a day before to right at the time. The lock screen only ever says something like "Something on your calendar at 7:30 p.m.", never what it is. After you go, you can tap I went to mark it. No organization and no one in your corner sees it.
If tonight is hard
Free and Sober is not an emergency service. If you're in danger, call 911, or call or text 988.
- Call or text 988, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It's free and confidential, any hour.
- Call 911 in an emergency.
- Call SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-4357, for treatment referrals and information, any hour.
More lines are on our Safety page.
This post is general information, not medical or legal advice. Free and Sober is a wellness app, not medical care, and it doesn't replace a doctor, a counselor or a treatment program. Check with a doctor before you make any medical decision, including stopping or changing any medicine.