Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them to others. Continued to take personal inventory and, when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge, His will for us and the power to carry it out. Having the 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. Members may attend AA meetings as often as they wish.
Meetings are free and are usually held in public facilities like churches and community centers.
It is hard for scientists to evaluate the effectiveness of AA because of the requirement that all group members remain anonymous. For example, researchers are unable to locate and follow up people who attend AA for a while and then drop out. In fact, in the U.S. most formal treatment programs either require or recommend AA attendance as part of treatment. And, of course, many people use AA alone as an effective way of maintaining sobriety. Recently, some self-help alternatives to AA have sprung up.