International Conference of Secular AA (ICSAA) 2023 - Side-Stepping God: How the Nonreligious Find Success in AA

Secular AA's Podcast

This is the audio of the session "Side-Stepping God: How the Nonreligious Find Success in Alcoholics Anonymous" from Day 1 of Virtual ICSAA 2023. Recordings from the conference are being edited for public sharing and are being uploaded as they are made ready. Follow/subscribe to us on buzzsprout to be alerted as your favorite episodes are available. For information on ICSAA 2024 in-person in Orlando in September, check out www.aasecular.org/in-person-conference and register soon!
Dr. Trombley will present the findings from her Ph.D. research examining substantial barriers nonreligious individuals in AA have faced. Most of the participants only attend secular AA meetings as a result of these barriers. She identifies 6 main barriers:
1) The belief that being nonreligious was a liability and that AA was religious;
2) The religious undertone and “God talk” in meetings;
3) Prayers in meetings;
4) The Big Book;
5) Discrimination;
and 6) Fundamentalism.
This presentation will walk through each of these barriers giving a brief description of what they mean and what she found. She will also briefly discuss how, despite these barriers, they were ultimately able to make AA work for them! She will briefly discuss how people were able to make AA successful for their recovery despite being nonreligious. The presentation will end with a more open discussion on the topic comments and questions from their own experiences or the experiences of others and where do we go from here.
For more info on secular AA including Zoom meetings, in-person meetings, and virtual gatherings, check out:
- https://aasecular.org
- [e-mail]

Secular AA is AA sobriety that is neither religious nor irreligious, focusing on the practical, humanist tools of Alcoholics Anonymous and borrowed from the wider recovery community. Secular AA is a growing subculture within AA, offering 100 agnostic/atheist/freethinkers AA meetings every day + regional events and the International Conference of Secular AA (ICSAA). More @ https://aasecular.org