Getting into an AA group is fairly easy. You just have to look it up in your local town, and attend your first meeting. The best thing is that AA groups can be found almost everywhere. The availability and free admission is what makes AA so successful. .
There is an obvious emphasis on anonymity in AA. People usually do not volunteer their last names at the meetings. Nothing matters besides helping the victims. It does not matter if you are black, white, fat, skinny, shy, stupid, or anything else, as long as the individual is willing to try and fix the problem. To be willing you must get past the stage of denial.
Once a person gets past any denial and attends their first class a new challenge is confronted. The next challenge is to stay clean and sober. This is very hard for most. In an Alcoholics mind they believe that they need alcohol to function and without it the body goes through difficult stages of withdraw. The only ways to fix the withdraw problems is to return to drinking or stay clean long enough to let your mind believe it does not need alcohol to function. Returning to drinking is the easiest way not to suffer and many people take this route. The ones that stay clean go through a lot more suffering and misery but once all that is over they are new human beings that enjoy life a lot more. AA is the best way to help a person fight this miserable phase.
The simple mindset that AA members use is to stay away from drinking one day at a time. AA offers mutual support through its infamous twelve-step program. The twelve steps were constructed to help guide people in the right direction. The first step is the most influential step of the twelve. The first step is," we admitted we where powerless over alcohol, that are lives have become unmanageable". This statement has become one of the most powerful agents for change ever devised. Its power more than likely comes from the fact that it represents a new beginning, a step toward surrendering and overcoming denial of the problem.