Author: Alex Thompson

What is the NA Narcotics Anonymous Meeting Format?

By the end of 1983, NA had expanded into more than a dozen countries, offering almost 3,000 meetings worldwide. NA doesn’t judge members based on race, religion, gender, or social status. They don’t care about who you are, what you’ve done, or the extent of your drug problem. Their main requirement is to request joiners to have the willingness to overcome their addiction. Specific Narcotics Anonymous group meetings are restricted by certain group characteristics. For instance, there are women-only meetings, as well as groups for newcomers, members of the LGBT community, and various religions.

1. Narcotics Anonymous is a fully self-sufficient organization that only accepts donations from its members.
2. Some encourage participation from multiple attendees while others are limited to one primary speaker.
3. The 12 steps mention God, but NA stresses that this isn’t necessarily a religious figure but sort of a power outside of yourself that helps motivate you.
4. NA meetings aim to gather people who are determined to recover from their addiction.
5. In a discussion meeting, members are given opportunities to speak and share their experiences.
6. If you are open about your drug replacement therapy, however, you may be asked not to speak at an NA meeting and simply listen.

Each Zonal Forum provides a biannual report on the floor of the World Service Conference and, when requested by the conference, may also answer specific questions or address the body. To improve communications, the Zonal Forums are provided with conference participant mailings and send each Zonal Forum meeting record to World Services. To more effectively serve the fellowship, World Services and the Zonal Forums maintain an ongoing partnership to plan and conduct the Worldwide Workshop system. In 1970, there were only 20 regular, weekly meetings, all of them in the United States. Within two years there were 70, including meetings in Germany, Australia, and Bermuda. By 1976, there were 200 regular meetings, including 83 in California alone, and in the early 1980s in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, the Republic of Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

It’s also appropriate to turn off your phone and not have side conversations. It is not affiliated with any religion, government, or other organization, even if the meeting is held in a church or other religious space. While this step specifically references God, it notes that it is the individual’s understanding of their own spiritual beliefs that will guide their recovery.

Phone, Video, or Live-Chat Support

Area Service Committees are typically funded from Group contributions plus money raised by events such as dances and recovery events attended by members. In some countries Area committees also supply literature to the Groups. Areas pass funds on to the Regions, which can also receive contributions from Groups and also raise money through conventions attended by hundreds to thousands and tens of thousands of members. Regions also sometimes run Regional Service Offices which buy literature from the World Service Office and its branch offices for sale to Areas and Groups. Because Regional Service Offices can purchase in bulk and sell at list price sometimes this surplus exceeds the running costs of the office.

NA does not accept donations from non-members, organizations, or governments. NA recovery literature is produced by the NA World Service Office (NAWS) located in California, USA. Typically NA groups will purchase literature using group funds from local (area or regional) service offices, or direct from NAWS. An RSC is composed of the regional committee members (RCMs) of all the participating ASCs in a region. It is similar in organization to an ASC but is further removed from the day-to-day activities of individual home groups.

Narcotics Anonymous

TSF sessions are designed to introduce the patient to 12-step concepts and facilitate the entry of the patient into community-based 12-step programs. It must be emphasized that TSF is not NA, it is an implementation of 12-step program elements by a professional counsellor. NA recommends 12 step work with another member who has worked the steps. The NA World Service Conference (WSC) is a bi-annual service meeting made up of the Regional Delegates of the seated Regions of the world and the members of the NA World Board. This service conference has the executive right to make decisions for the entire NA Fellowship.

While previous literature had been written by just a few addicts (primarily by Jimmy Kinnon), the NA Basic Text was written as a massive collaboration between hundreds of people. There were a total of seven World Literature Conferences within three years, all of them open to any addict who wished to help. It was decided that the book would use the Little White Book as its outline, filling in and expanding on the subjects discussed in that text. One addict helping another is an essential part of the NA program.[15] It is therefore highly recommended that NA members find a sponsor. A sponsor is a member of NA who helps another member of the fellowship by sharing their experience, strength, and hope in recovery and serves as a guide through the Twelve Steps.

Many NA members identify themselves in meetings by their first name only. For people struggling with opioid use, one recovery tool that’s been available for decades is Narcotics Anonymous (NA). This free program provides support in the form of regular group meetings and fellowship with other people with addictions. All participants may choose to attend sessions that are centered around discussions relevant to their recovery. Such NA meeting topics usually don’t revolve around substance abuse itself.

Open vs. Closed Meeting

They are also suitable for immigrants who wish to share their issues with people of their own culture, language, and mentality. Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a global organization dedicated to helping people addicted to substances pursue and maintain a drug-free lifestyle via a 12-step program. If you are ready to work toward recovery from drugs or alcohol, treatment options are available to help. Twelve-step programs such as Narcotics Anonymous can be helpful, but you should start by talking to your doctor about your first steps. If you are preparing to quit, medications are also available that can help you detox and manage your symptoms of withdrawal.

Closed Meetings

The organizations also pledge not to convey the information revealed during the meetings to law enforcement, employers, and families of the attendees. The format of the meetings varies greatly, depending on the needs of the participants. People can choose from ordinary groups, gatherings that have a specific theme or topic, NA meetings for families, and online meetings. These are color-coded keyrings that indicate how long a person has been sober. During this portion of the meeting, one of the leaders will announce a certain duration of time (30 days, 9 months, etc.) and call for individuals who have been sober for that corresponding period to get a key tag. At the World Service level of Narcotics Anonymous expenses are met partially by the voluntary donations via the service structure and also through the sale of recovery literature.

They are a community that meets regularly to help each other maintain sobriety. Like other 12-step programs, Narcotics Anonymous also operates on a set of Twelve guidelines called the Twelve Traditions of NA. The goal of the twelve traditions is to help members build healthier relationships and live drug-free lives. Calls to our general hotline may be answered by private treatment providers.

The office also administers the legal responsibilities of the fellowship concerning copyrights, intellectual property, and accounting. NA sprang from the Alcoholics Anonymous Program of the mid-1930s, and was founded by Jimmy Kinnon.[16] Meetings first emerged in the Los Angeles area of California, United States, in the early 1950s. The NA program, officially founded in 1953,[17] started as a small U.S. movement that has grown into the world’s largest 12 step recovery program for drug addiction. The twelve steps of the NA program are based upon spiritual principles, three of which are honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness, embodied in the first three steps. The Basic Text of NA says, in Chapter Four, about all twelve steps, “These are the principles which made our recovery possible”. According to NA members these principles, when followed to the best of one’s ability, allow for a new way of life.

We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out. While the previous step requires you to recognize your wrongs, this step requires you to go one step further and confess them out loud. Admitting your faults to another person can be difficult, so the step helps you prepare by confessing to a higher power first. We admitted we were powerless over our addiction and that our lives had become unmanageable. While you might feel like the outsider or the newbie at first, give yourself time to get comfortable.

A Narcotics Anonymous meeting is always a group gathering, although the format varies from program to program. NA sessions always prioritize coming together, supporting each other and helping each other stay clean. These gatherings normally occur outside any political or religious organizations.