Topic #6 Other Factors in A.A. Recovery The original A.A. experience, as described in Alcoholics Anonymous and A.A. Comes Of Age. The desire to be sober for oneself Release from the compulsion and removal of the obsession Who can be a member of A.A. and how to join. Many newcomers are greatly relieved at the absence of any ritual, signing up, or other procedure for becoming an A.A. member. Anyone may attend open A.A. meetings. Membership in A.A. is open to anyone with a drinking problem. Dually-addicted people are also eligible for A.A. membership, if they have a drinking problem. Acceptance of facts about ourselves; self-honesty as the basis of the program The Serenity Prayer The A.A. Slogans Sponsorship; how to get a sponsor, how to change sponsors, if necessary. (See the enclosed pamphlet Questions and Answers on Sponsorship.) The family (see Chapters 8 and 9, To Wives and The Family Afterwards, in Alcoholics Anonymous) and ways in which nonalcoholic relatives can get guidance in understanding alcoholism and thus helping the alcoholic (the Al-Anon Family Groups and Alateen.) The A.A. language. Most leaders of beginners meeting agree that it is very important to explain any specialized A.A. jargon to newcomers. Indeed, it is essential to make all discussions at these meetings as simple and understandable as we can. Many newcomers arrive with no prior knowledge of A.A., and (as most of us recall from our own histories) few newcomers are mentally in the best shape for rapidly absorbing complex information or ideas. Spiritual awakening. Ever since Ebby T. first successfully twelfth-stepped Bill W., A.A.s have been encouraged to arrive at their own conception of A.A. recovery tools. For a discussion on the role of a spiritual awakening in recovery, see in Alcoholics Anonymous the chapters We Agnostics, Working With Others, A Vision For You, and Spiritual Experience. Also refer to Step Twelve in Twelve Steps And Twelve Traditions and in A.A. Comes Of Age; plus the pamphlets 44 Questions and Questions and Answers on Sponsorship.) Are sedatives dangerous for alcoholics? (Refer to The A.A. Member Medications and Other Drugs.)