The telephone book has been the main method used to find recovery groups. Anyone looking for a support group is very fortunate to now have the Internet to search for meetings.

In the beginning of his/her journey to healing, we recommend that  s/he seek out several different groups to find the one or ones that most help him/her.

As we noted elsewhere, the Adult Children of Alcoholics has transformed the original twelve step meetings. Feelings are more acceptable now and the focus is on helping the person to accept her/his feelings. How we feel about ourselves is the basis for self-acceptance. Most of the healing process happens inside a recovery person.

In looking for recovery groups, use the following sites to find meetings in you area. In the Ft. Lauderdale area, the following types of twelve step groups meet.

Alcoholics Anonymous (click on how to find AA meeting.)
AlAnon/Alateen (click on how to find a meeting) Choose your state first and then look for information for your specific place.
The telephone listed for your area will probably be for more information about the groups in your area.In the Ft. Lauderdale area, AlAnon has its own website. It includes Is AlAnon for Me?, What is AlAnon? as well as Alateen information. The Alateen Conference is listed as well as gratitude dinners and the AFG (Alanon Family Group) convention with AA participation.)

We haven't attended the following meetings but Changemaker strongly recommends them because most addicts have multiple addictions. AA is about alcohol and has struggled to keep out discussion about drugs. Basically, Changemaker feels that this is the right direction for AA as addicts tend to glamorize the use of illegal drugs and downplay his/her alcohol drugs. This discarding the importance of alcohol use is probably the greatest downfall for recovery. Otfentimes the family enables the addict to stay high by accepting alcohol use while rejecting illegal or prescription drug use.