Treatment
While A.A. is not affiliated with any form of alcoholism treatment, A.A. Treatment committees are essential in carrying the A.A. message to treatment facilities where the suffering alcoholic may be introduced to A.A. for the first time. According to the A.A. 2011 Membership Survey, 32% of our members cited treatment facilities as a factor most responsible for them coming to A.A. — Reprinted from www.aa.org, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Area 47 Treatment Committee
Our Purpose: To coordinate with individual A.A. members and groups interested in carrying our message of recovery to alcoholics in treatment facilities, and to set up means of “bridging the gap” from the facility to the larger A.A. community.
Primary Functions:
- Encourage group and local committee participation
- Provide a liaison between treatment facilities’ meetings and groups on the outside
- Coordinate temporary contact/Bridging the Gap
—Reprinted from Area 47 Handbook
Resources:
- Bridging the Gap Brochure
- What Is Bridging the Gap?
- Bridging the Gap: Between Treatment & AA Through Temporary Contact Programs
How Can You Help?
- Become a Temporary Contact: Provide your contact information in the form below
- Read the Bridging the Gap Pamphlet for details on the Temporary Contact Program
- Attend Monthly Treatment Committee Meetings
- Contact the Area 47 Treatment Chair at treatment@aacny.org
The Treatment Committee is compiling a list of temporary contacts available in Central New York. If you’re interested in helping to “bridge the gap” in Area 47, please send us your contact information.
In Need of Help?
If you are being discharged from a treatment facility and need a temporary contact, please fill out this form: Area 47 Bridging the Gap Temporary Contact Request Form
More on Bridging the Gap
Reading: “Bridging the Gap – Between Treatment and A.A. Through Temporary Contact Programs” (P-49)
Part of Bridging the Gap between a treatment program and A.A. is the Temporary Contact Program, which is designed to help the alcoholic in an alcoholism treatment program make that transition.
As you know, one of the more “slippery” places in the journey to sobriety is between the door of the facility and the nearest A.A. group or meeting. Some of us can tell you that, even though we heard of A.A. in treatment, we were
too fearful to go.A.A. experience suggests that attending meetings regularly is critical. In order to bridge the gap, A.A. members have volunteered to be temporary contacts and introduce newcomers to Alcoholics Anonymous.
The video “Hope: Alcoholics Anonymous,” shown to patients in treatment, emphasizes the importance of having a temporary contact as the essential link between treatment and recovery.
It is suggested that the temporary contact take the newcomer to a variety of A.A. meetings; introduce him or her to other A.A.s; insure that he or she has the phone numbers of several A.A. members, and share the experience of sponsorship and a home group. — Reprinted from www.aa.org, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
