Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid society dedicated to assisting individuals with alcoholism by providing them with support to help keep them sober. It is funded entirely by it's members who are organized as small collections of people known as "groups". There is an organization known as the General Service Office that is also largely self-financing and earns most of its income from the sale of books related to the organization. It was formed in the United States in 1935 and now has over 2 million members worldwide. Originally a white protestant organization, it welcomed its first Catholic member in 1939 and the first African-American group was formed in 1945. 
Since 1946, AA meetings are built around the Twelve Traditions, which have formed the basis of many "Twelve Step" programs in other rehabilitation organizations. Group meetings often function similar to group therapy with one or two members discussing their experiences with the rest of the members, although most of the time is spent in discussions. Meetings can be "closed" - open only to members, or "open", which are also open to visitors. AA's policy is that no alcoholic can be excluded from a closed meeting for any reason, although many groups cater to a particular group of people. 
Another key principle of the organization is confidentiality. Members identify themselves by first name only and will not discuss what happened in a closed meeting with anyone. 
Alcoholics Anonymous at Wikipedia
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