Western Mass AA Meetings - Alcoholics Anonymous

HOME PAGE | SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY

This page is outdated, please visit www.westernmassaa.org for updated meeting lists - Western Massachusetts AA Meetings

Welcome, This page is intended to help me and who ever else needs it. I made this because I need an easy way to find AA meetings on my cell phone, other websites take to long to load and I can not find what I am looking for fast. This website should be easy to use and have all the AA meeting listings for Western Massachusetts. The website is backwards compatible with all media devices and configure to accommodate people with visual impairments. Printable AA Meetings and all other pages have text size adjustment and the screen size can also be enlarged.

This Website is not affiliated with Western Mass Intergroup area 31. The official website for Western Mass AA Intergroup area 31 is WesternMassAA.org. Their AA 24 Hour phone number is tel. (413) 532-2111, for Spanish speaking people tel. (413) 734-7500. Their office is located at 474 Pleasant Street, Holyoke, MA 01040. They have big AA meetings with nice people.

People in need of emendate mental health services can call the Massachusetts Statewide Emergency Service Program, the toll free phone number is tel. (877) 382-1609, enter a zip code to get the local ESP provider phone number, this is their website: Namimass.org. If you are in the local Western Mass area their contact information would be, BHN Crisis Services Springfield, MA tel. (413) 733-6661 and Westfield, MA tel. (413) 568-6386, their website is bhninc.org/content/emergency-services. They have 24 hour mental health services.

People in need of detox can call the Providence Hospital in Holyoke, MA tel. 800-274-7724. There is also the Carlson Recovery detox, 471 Chestnut ST, Springfield, MA tel. 413-733-1423. Outpatient alcoholic services are available at Mercy Hospital, their website is www.mercycares.com.

Below are the AA codes at the end of each AA meeting listing, if you are new to AA getting to a meeting is the most important thing.

C -  Closed, For Alcoholics Only - Only those whom identify as Alcoholics.

O - Open "Public Welcomed" -  Welcome for all to attend.

BEG - Beginners - Designed for newcomers to ask questions about AA.

D - Discussion - The discussion portion following a reading or speaker.

S - Speaker - An AA member sharing their Experience, Strength and Hope.

T - Topic - A topic from the Alcoholics Anonymous literature or AA experiences.

M - Men’s - Designed for Men only.

W - Women’s - Designed for Women only.

BB Stp Study - Read and discuss the 12 step as per the Big Book.

Stp &Trad - Step & Tradition - Read and Discuss a 12 Step or 12 Tradition.

Stp - 12 Step - Read and Discussion from the AA 12 Step Book.

BB - Big Book - Read and Discussion from AA Big Book.

FV - Format Varies - Group decides for the format for that meeting.

GV - Grapevine - Read and discuss from the AA Grapevine magazine.

Liv - Sober - Reading and Discussing from the Living Sober Book.

CTB - Reading and Discussing from the Came to Believe Book.

YP - Young People’s "Young at Heart" no age limitations.

HA -Meetings Accessible/Handicapped Persons.

*HA - Meetings Accessible/Handicapped Persons.

AA New Comers

People suffering from both an alcohol and drug problem can use Alcoholics Anonymous, about half the people in AA are dealing with both problems. Years ago some AA members didn't like having so many people with drug problems in the meetings. Now the majority of people in the rooms are dealing with both problems.

People new to AA should be aware of a few things, the AA Gurus and people that fall off the wagon and try to take you down with them. This can happen by getting involved in an intimate relationship with an other AA member. Things work out best if people do not use AA as a free dating service, you are going to meet nice people, so be forewarned. The other thing is the Gurus, in the beginning lets say the first 30 days of sobriety, people should keep things as simple as possible, you do not want people obsessively telling you what AA is and how you need to live your life. Going to meetings on a regular basis and lessening to well seasoned speakers is the best way to find out how AA works.

People with a lot of sobriety time under their belts will usually not be that obsessive. These are the types of people you should consider as a sponsor. Trust me on this one, look for someone with at least 10 years under there belt. Once you have 30 days of sobriety, I would say that is a good time to start getting involved with how things work. Some people might say to wait 6 months to a year, everybody is going to have there own philosophy. This is because AA works differently for everyone. Keep it simple.

I went to my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting over 20 years ago and was active in the beginning. Right now I do not actively drink and I do not go to meetings on a regular basis. AA ruined drinking for me, I used to think that life could not be lived with out drinking. AA taught me life is more exciting and pleasurable with out alcohol. I fit into society better by not drinking then I do when I'm drinking. Not drinking is a cool thing and I can realize this now. It took 15 years of me going in and out of AA meetings before I started to get a grip on things. In hindsight I think I should of gotten involved with the 12 steps earlier.

I realize I will never be cured of this disease. Most people would not drink something that would kill them. Alcoholics can not help them selves and will drink regardless of life or death. Alcoholics are not  deliberately trying to kill them selves, alcoholism is a disease, it has nothing to do with will power or intelligence.

Opiate Treatment & Rehab

Suboxone is an Opiate withdrawal antidote, it does not make people high, it has been available for over 10 years, it is still new to most people. Suboxone is a major break through in treating Opiate addiction. I think it is more physically and psychologically addictive then other Opiates, but it works, 1 or 2 mg's a day is all it takes to keep stable and feeling good. The clinics try to give people 8 to 16 mg's a day. Keeping the dose as low as possible will be helpful if one ever has to go with out it or if they decide to wean them selves off, good luck. I strongly sagest that people who are out of control because of Opiate abuse try Suboxone.

On average people do better taking Soboxone then they do taking Methadone. Suboxone is not for everybody and there are some people that prefer Methadone or they have liver problems and can not take Suboxone. People need to have their liver tested every 3 months when taking Suboxone, this again is why I recommend a small dose. Being in treatment is better for a persons liver then not being in treatment as long as that person is not using. Clean Slate Centers are the fastest way to get into treatment, they take Mass Health and some other forms of health insurance, if some one has to pay out of pocket this would be the cheapest place to get treatment. Clean Slate Centers are located all over Western Mass, cleanslatecenters.com  tel. (877) 218-2340.

CSAC is a Methadone clinic they have locations all over Western Mass and Massachusetts. People like this clinic because if they are not on Mass Health it only cost about $150 a week, maybe less, It maybe sliding scale for some people. This is the cheapest clinic in the area, It is a good place to get recovery. Their Chicopee, MA tel. (413) 746-0051 or csacmethadone.com. Most health insurance company's do not pay for Methadone treatment. Some health insurance company's pay for Suboxone treatment. Mass health pays for both Methadone and Suboxone treatment.

Both these drugs do not mix with alcohol at all and can be very deadly if mixed together. People get sick to their stomics when mixing Suboxone with alcohol, a person should wait at least 24 hours after just one drink before taking Suboxone. Mixing Methadone with alcohol is deadly, many people have died by doing so and it happens very often, please trust me with this advice.

Methadone clinics are a lot more strict then Suboxone clinics, people usually have to go everyday to get their dose, they do not like Methadone leaving the clinic. Once a person has been clean for about 6 months they may start to let them take a small amount home. There is a lot of drug testing when a person is in a Methadone program and it is easy to get kicked out.

Suboxone clinics require people to check in usually once every two weeks, this also means less drug testing. It is ok to test positive for other drugs now and then, however, if a person tests positive a lot they will get kicked out of the program. Methadone clinics will give people a chance to wean off the dose before the final kick out the door. Suboxone clinics do not give two craps about drug addicts and will kick them out of the program cold turkey.

Sexual side affects for men are usually not that bad on ether a small dose of Suboxone or Methadone. In the beginning a larger dose of Methadone maybe needed to get the full affect of not craving, this can be weaned down once a person becomes stable. Large doses of these drugs will effect all men sexually in a negative way, but so does Oxycodone and Heroin. Women are also affected by these drugs, I have heard it is harder for women to reach an orgasm why'll taking a high dose, along with a lost desire for sex.

Switching from Methadone to Suboxone is very hard to do, going from Suboxone to Methadone is a lot easier. The clinics will usually make a person completely detox from Methadone before making the switch to Suboxone, this can take a week or so.  A person might want to try Suboxone as a first resort because of this problem.

People in AA will often frown upon prescribed narcotics, it is best to keep any personally prescribed drug information to yourself. I would share this information with a sponsor, but that is it, no one else. Everyone is in their own situation, what might not have worked for someone else, could work for another person. No one in AA is going to be able to tell if some one is taking Suboxone or Methadone.

I hope this has been helpful?

Western Massachusetts Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention Services Directory Program, this is their pdf file, tons of information. I do not know anything about it, looks official.

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is also an option, I have heard it is a 12 step program like Alcoholics Anonymous, but different www.wmacna.org .

More about the website

I also wanted away I could easily print out the AA meetings with out using a lot of paper, I am always loosing my Were and When book. If you tap/click on the "printable AA meetings" link at the top of the page it will take you to a web page were the total number of paper pages you will need to print out the list is about 8. This site should be back wards compatible with all forms of media, if not let me know and I'll find away to make it work.

I Started HTML coding in 1999, back then few people had websites, I do not do this for a living as you can tell. In 2005 the Western Mass AA Intergroup website went down for about 2 years. There was no away of finding AA meetings over the internet for the local area. I then decided to list all the meetings on my website. I had to take the When are Were Book and manually type and reformat all the information into my computer, this made my eyeballs go bad and they have never been the same since. I know its just age, but that was the beginning of my farsightedness, I think a good full size modern LED, not LCD, computer monitor is important for protecting eye sight. Computer manufacturers have made a lot of changes to computer monitors recently because of this reason.

Contact Information

Keeping the meeting list up to date is not easy and I could use some help. If you would like to volunteer with doing the updating or with the development of this site, let me know. I do all the coding in hand written HTML 5 and php, this could be a learning experience for the both of us.

Group leaders that have updated information, I will do my best to get it added as soon as possible. You can email this site at info@pcsteven.com , If that does not work call Steven Schaeneman at (413) 388-3121.

HTML 5 codied by pcsteven

Written by Anonymous
Visit us at:
schaeneman.com
Western Massachusetts
USA