List of 12 Step Programs and Other Recovery Support Groups
By Tim StoddartSep 23, 2011Updated Sep 25, 202612 Step Recovery
In this article
- 12-step programs for alcohol and drug addiction
- 12-step groups for families and friends
- 12-step programs for food and eating disorders
- Other anonymous fellowships: gambling, money, work and emotions
- 12-step programs for sex and love addiction
- Groups from earlier versions of this list we couldn't reach
- Alternatives to traditional 12-step groups
- How to find a meeting
- Meetings and treatment in your state
- Frequently asked questions
- What is a 12-step program?
- Do 12-step meetings cost anything?
- Do I have to be religious to go?
- Can family members go to a meeting?
- Is a support group the same as treatment?
- Which group should I try first?
Updated September 2026. We checked every link on this page against each group's own website.
Sober Nation doesn't take sides on how people get sober. We've watched a lot of people find recovery in 12-step rooms, and we've watched others find it somewhere else. This page lists both.
Most of the groups below adapted the Twelve Steps first written by Alcoholics Anonymous; the few that don't are noted. They're peer-run, and most have no dues or fees. They cover alcohol and other drugs, food, gambling, money, sex and love, and the family members of people who struggle with any of these.
A support group isn't medical care. Stopping alcohol or benzodiazepines suddenly can cause dangerous withdrawal, and opioid withdrawal is hard to get through alone. If you've been using heavily, talk to a doctor or a treatment program about detox. If you're in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988.
12-step programs for alcohol and drug addiction
- Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is the original 12-step fellowship. AA dates its founding to June 10, 1935, in Akron, Ohio. Membership is open to anyone who wants to stop drinking.
- Narcotics Anonymous (NA) was founded in 1953. It treats addiction itself as the problem rather than any one drug, and it counts alcohol as a drug.
- Cocaine Anonymous (CA) is open to anyone with a desire to stop using cocaine and all other mind-altering substances.
- Crystal Meth Anonymous (CMA) is a fellowship for people recovering from methamphetamine addiction.
- Marijuana Anonymous (MA) is for people who want to stop using marijuana and cannabis products.
- Heroin Anonymous (HA) held its first meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2004. It follows the Twelve Steps as practiced in AA, though it isn't affiliated with AA.
- Pills Anonymous (PA) describes itself as a fellowship of recovering pill addicts. This list used to link an old MSN group page, and the fellowship now runs its own website.
- Chemically Dependent Anonymous (CDA) is a 12-step fellowship for people recovering from addiction to alcohol and other drugs.
- Nicotine Anonymous is for people who want to quit nicotine in any form.
- Recoveries Anonymous (R.A.) welcomes people with any problem or behavior, including family members, and has no dues or fees.
12-step groups for families and friends
Someone else's drinking or drug use can take over a household. These groups are for the people around the person who's using, and you don't need your loved one to be in recovery to go.
- Al-Anon and Alateen are for friends and relatives of people with a drinking problem. Alateen is Al-Anon's program for teenagers, and it has its own teen corner with online meetings.
- Nar-Anon is for family and friends of people addicted to drugs.
- Co-Anon is for family and friends of people addicted to cocaine or other mind-altering substances. It's a separate fellowship from Cocaine Anonymous.
- Families Anonymous is for relatives and friends of someone with a drug, alcohol or related behavior problem.
- Gam-Anon is for the spouses, family and friends of compulsive gamblers.
- Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA) is for adults who grew up with alcoholism or other family dysfunction and still feel its effects.
- Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) is for people who want healthier, more honest relationships.
- Parents Anonymous isn't a 12-step fellowship. It's a nonprofit that runs support groups and helplines for parents and caregivers, and it has been on this list for years, so we've kept it.
12-step programs for food and eating disorders
Eating disorders are serious medical conditions. These groups can sit alongside treatment from a doctor, therapist or dietitian, but they don't replace it.
- Overeaters Anonymous (OA) describes itself as a 12-step program for people with problems related to food.
- Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) is for people who see their relationship with food as an addiction.
- Food Addicts Anonymous (FAA) is a separate fellowship with the same focus. Its old web address now forwards to this site.
- Compulsive Eaters Anonymous-HOW (CEA-HOW) is a 12-step fellowship for compulsive eaters.
- Eating Disorders Anonymous (EDA) says the only requirement for membership is a desire to recover from an eating disorder.
- Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous (ABA) is a 12-step fellowship for people recovering from anorexia and bulimia. Earlier versions of this page had no link for ABA.
Other anonymous fellowships: gambling, money, work and emotions
- Gamblers Anonymous (GA) held its first group meeting on September 13, 1957, in Los Angeles.
- Bettors Anonymous is a smaller 12-step fellowship for compulsive betting.
- Debtors Anonymous (DA) is for people who keep taking on unsecured debt. It also runs Business Debtors Anonymous for business owners.
- Spenders Anonymous is for compulsive spending.
- Workaholics Anonymous is for people who can't stop working, or who can't stop worrying about work.
- Clutterers Anonymous is a 12-step program for people struggling with clutter.
- Procrastinators Anonymous is an online fellowship with forums and step work for chronic procrastination.
- Emotions Anonymous (EA) is for people working toward recovery from emotional difficulties.
- Emotional Health Anonymous (EHA) is a similar fellowship. The site we link is run by its San Gabriel Valley, California, intergroup.
- Recovering Couples Anonymous (RCA) is for couples who want to recover together and rebuild their relationship.
- Survivors of Incest Anonymous (SIA) is a 12-step fellowship for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
- Self Mutilators Anonymous: its old web address now forwards to Self-Injury Recovery & Awareness (SIRA), which lists its own support meetings.
12-step programs for sex and love addiction
- Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA) is for people who want to stop compulsive sexual behavior.
- Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) covers compulsive patterns in sex, romance, relationships and fantasy.
- Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) defines sobriety more narrowly than SAA or SLAA, so it's worth reading each group's approach before choosing.
- Sexual Compulsives Anonymous (SCA) is another fellowship for compulsive sexual behavior.
- Sexual Recovery Anonymous (SRA) is a 12-step fellowship for sexual addiction.
Groups from earlier versions of this list we couldn't reach
Older versions of this page linked the groups below. In September 2026 their websites were offline, parked, taken over by unrelated content, or never existed. We've left the names here so you can still search for local meetings, but we removed the links.
- Methadone Anonymous: the old website is a parked domain.
- Prescription Anonymous: the website no longer loads. Pills Anonymous, listed above, covers the same ground.
- All Addictions Anonymous: the old website is a parked domain.
- Dual Recovery Anonymous and Dual Diagnosis Anonymous: neither website was working.
- Hepatitis C Anonymous and HIV AIDS Anonymous: one domain is parked and the other returns an error.
- Kleptomaniacs and Shoplifters Anonymous: the old address now forwards to a shoplifting prevention nonprofit rather than a 12-step group.
- Schizophrenics Anonymous: the old address now shows unrelated content.
- Love Addicts Anonymous: the site still exists but now carries casino advertising, so we no longer link it. SLAA, above, covers love addiction.
- Trauma Anonymous: the old list never had a link for it.
- Bloggers Anonymous: this was a humorous blog post, not a recovery group.
Alternatives to traditional 12-step groups
Some people don't connect with the spiritual language of the 12 steps, or they want a different structure. These groups are also peer-based, and many run meetings online as well as in person. We have a longer piece on options outside the 12 steps.
- SMART Recovery was established in the US in 1994 as a secular, evidence-informed option. Meetings are free and led by trained volunteers.
- Recovery Dharma is a recovery program built on Buddhist principles and practices, including meditation.
- Refuge Recovery is a Buddhist-oriented, non-theistic recovery program. You don't need any background in Buddhism.
- LifeRing Secular Recovery is abstinence-based and holds its meetings in a secular way. Its approach is summed up as sobriety, secularity and self-direction.
- Women for Sobriety (WFS) was founded in 1975 by Jean Kirkpatrick, PhD. It is abstinence-based and built around its 13 Acceptance Statements.
- Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS), also called Save Our Selves, is a network of independent, non-religious recovery groups. The national website was offline when we checked in September 2026. Regional networks such as Save OurSelves New York still list meetings.
- Celebrate Recovery is a Christian program founded in 1991 as a ministry of Saddleback Church. It is itself 12-step based: it pairs the Twelve Steps with Bible verses and adds eight principles drawn from the Beatitudes.
- Moderation Management (MM) began in 1994. It is not an abstinence program. It's a peer community for people who want to change their drinking, including cutting back. If you've had withdrawal symptoms, or a doctor has told you to stop drinking, talk with them before trying moderation.
How to find a meeting
Most fellowships run a meeting finder of their own. These are the official ones for the largest groups:
- AA: the free Meeting Guide app pulls meeting lists from local AA offices, and aa.org/find-aa lists local AA contacts.
- NA: NA meeting search finds meetings near you, and NA keeps a page of virtual meeting resources.
- Al-Anon and Alateen: Al-Anon's meeting finder includes face-to-face, phone and online meetings.
- SMART Recovery: SMART's meeting search finds online and in-person meetings by city.
- Online, any time: In The Rooms is an online recovery community with a schedule of live video meetings for many different fellowships.
For your first few meetings, it can help to try more than one group. Meetings run by the same fellowship can feel very different from each other.
Meetings and treatment in your state
The meeting finders above search by city in every state. If you or someone you love needs more than a meeting, like detox, residential rehab or outpatient care, our state pages list treatment programs near you. You can also search FindTreatment.gov, the federal treatment locator.
Frequently asked questions
What is a 12-step program?
It's a peer support group that follows a version of the Twelve Steps written by Alcoholics Anonymous in the 1930s. Members meet regularly, share their own experience, and often work through the steps with a sponsor, who is a more experienced member. Our guide to how 12-step programs work goes into the steps themselves.
Do 12-step meetings cost anything?
Most don't charge dues or fees. Groups usually pass a basket for voluntary contributions to cover rent and literature, and you don't have to put anything in.
Do I have to be religious to go?
No. The steps refer to God or a higher power "as we understood Him," and members decide for themselves what that means. Plenty of people who aren't religious go. If that language gets in your way, SMART Recovery, LifeRing, SOS and Recovery Dharma don't use it.
Can family members go to a meeting?
Yes. AA welcomes family members and friends at "open" meetings as observers. "Closed" meetings are for people who want to stop drinking themselves. Al-Anon, Nar-Anon, Co-Anon and Families Anonymous are meant for family members.
Is a support group the same as treatment?
No. Support groups are run by peers, not clinicians, and they don't provide detox, medication or therapy. Many people use both: treatment to get stable, then meetings for ongoing support. If withdrawal is a risk, get medical help first.
Which group should I try first?
Pick the one that matches your main problem and has a meeting you can get to this week. If it doesn't fit after a few meetings, try a different group or a different format. Changing groups is common.
About the author
Tim Stoddart
Spiritual gangster. I love dogs, music and the blank page. Grateful to be sober. Join my mailing list for TimStodz and join my Facebook Page.
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