Narcotics Anonymous Meetings: How They Work

Today, the importance of NA meetings for recovering drug addicts can hardly be overestimated. Thanks to them, many were saved from death or prison. The NA movement, which began in 1953, is now one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the world. It hosts over 70,000 weekly meetings in 65 languages in 141 countries.

In Narcotics Anonymous, meetings are the primary tool for helping addicts. NA groups do not own or rent meeting places. At meetings, community members share their personal experiences with other help-seekers, not as professionals but as people who have experienced a similar situation and have found a way out. Meetings can be "open" (anyone can attend) or "closed" (only those who have a problem of addiction are allowed). NA meetings are led by more experienced community members; the rest of its members share their experiences of recovery from addiction.

These therapeutic communities are self-help groups. They do not have professional specialists, and all the work being done is based on the experience of improving the health of ordinary people.

In a group, a person can receive support from people who like themselves, used to be addicts. NA meetings are very large, and there is always someone to help you.

It is a self-organizing structure that is far from politics or economics. The groups do not care about the religion, gender, or sexual orientation of the person who applied to it, which is why it is called anonymous.

The community includes completely different people—it can be someone who has been recovering for a long time or someone who has just arrived. In one group, these people share their problems and learn from experience, helping them change their own lives.

In the groups, everybody speaks a language that is understandable to a drug addict. After all, when talking to a patient, a specialist sometimes uses professional slang, which is not very clear to an ordinary person.

In the meeting, you can talk about your experience. Everybody will listen to you, understand you, but they will not start "treating" right away, as is the case when contacting a specialist.

NA support groups live by their own rules. Before each meeting, a so-called preamble is read, intended primarily for first-time visitors.

It says that the only condition for being in a group is a desire to stop using alcohol or drugs. There are no more obligations and restrictions.

Nothing is required from a group member. They do not knock out a promise to come next time. They do not manipulate him and do not set any conditions, except for one thing - to come to group meetings in a sober state.

The NA program encourages an addict to accept certain principles. By following them, it becomes possible not to use alcohol or drugs and live normally.

The program consists of twelve steps that a person goes through in sequence. Each step is an acknowledgment of existing problems and progress along the path of personal growth. And from a certain point - help other members of the community.

The Narcotics Anonymous Community Recovery Program is a series of personal activities known as the Twelve Steps. The steps include:

The most important thing in the program is the emphasis on what is called "spiritual awakening." "Spiritual awakening" has a purely practical value and does not pursue the goal of exporting philosophical or metaphysical ideas. This is what makes it easy for the program to cross the boundaries between cultures. Narcotics Anonymous is not a religious organization.

Gradually, regular attendees begin to develop an interest in staying sober, a desire not to drink or use drugs, and an ability to abstain from use.

At the group NA meetings USA, you can often hear stories about how a person developed a strong craving for drugs, but instead of getting high, everybody communicates and discusses the problems.

This example has a positive effect on many. And a lot of old-timers themselves give their phone numbers to newcomers with an offer to call in a difficult situation.

The Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous groups are self-help communities where anyone who wants to get rid of addiction can come. The basic principle of such groups' work is a positive example of a sober life and the exchange of experience to achieve it.