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My husband and I recently moved to a different city within the state we live in. My husband has casually attended alcoholics meetings for several years. The alcoholics meetings can be of great support; however it is crucial to find the one that will meet your particular needs. If the meetings are inconvenient in terms of time or location you will probably not benefit enough from them.

In my husband's case, we found that in our new community they had several different meeting times spread out within the week. My husband went to one meeting on a Monday night, but discovered that most of his peers were much younger than him. He did not feel that he would gain the support that he needed from this particular group. After the meeting he found a poster advertising that on Tuesday's a group of men over 50 met at the same location. He attended that meeting and instantly found the support and understanding that he had been accustomed to in the alcoholics meetings in our former community.

There are multiple directories that list alcoholics meetings. There are also many ways of accessing the directories. Local newspapers, area churches and visitor information centers are just a few places to look out for the listings. Good news for computer users, many alcoholics meetings are listed on the websites of cities and communities. This will usually tell you the meeting times, locations and type of group.

Alcoholics meetings are held in most communities. In the larger communities and cities the alcoholics meetings are often broken up into specialty or sub groups, for example meetings for men, women, smokers, non-smokers, gays or lesbians. There are a great number of subgroups for the alcoholics meetings, so if you have a specific interest area or need, you should be able to find just the right one. Or easily switch to another should you want to.

Most communities also offer alcoholics meetings for adult children of alcoholics as well as for significant others that may be co-dependent. In smaller communities the groups may seem very tight knit and closed to new comers, however most meetings for alcoholics welcome new members at all times. Because alcoholics meetings tend to follow a similar agenda and beliefs it is possible to attend meetings in communities that you are visiting. Often times being away from home on vacation or at business meetings may be a time that is particularly difficult for the alcoholic to maintain sobriety, but most likely a meeting will be taking place in the community that you find yourself in. Do not miss that opportunity and let your wild drinking habits be let loose.

Alcoholics meetings are not limited only to the United States. Several countries hold meetings on a regular basis, so attending alcoholic meetings when traveling abroad is a possible option. This is a great way of not only gaining the support you need while traveling, but also a way to establish relationships and make new friends around the world.

Whether you are new to recovery, or have many years of sobriety, attendance at alcoholics meetings is a way of gaining support, giving support, and developing long term relationships with others who've suffered exactly what you are going through and want to extend a helping hand. You can emulate positive role models and learn how to rein in your persistent habits of drinking.