There are many different kinds of NA meetings. Some are topic discussion meetings, some are speaker meetings, some are literature discussion meetings and some are part of or combinations of these and other variations. Some are open to the public (to listen) and others are for addicts only. Unless they are addicts and there for their own recovery, there are no counselors or professions present at closed meetings. NA meetings are run by addicts for addicts. Regardless of format, NA meetings usually start with readings from our literature. Addicts share their successes and challenges in overcoming active addiction and living drug-free productive lives through application of the principles contained within the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of NA.
NA literature is a great source of information about our program. Our Basic Text, Narcotics Anonymous, or our information pamphlets (IPs) are a good place to start. Most meetings offer IPs for free, while books are generally sold at the group’s cost. Most of our literature is also available to read on this website. To begin, we invite you to read IP #22, “Welcome to NA“. Please come to our meetings and “Keep Coming Back!”
Below are some excerpts taken from “An Introduction to NA Meetings“, which contains more detail including general information, things you can expect, information about sharing, the atmosphere of a meeting, some NA terms and more.
If you’re planning to go to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting for the first time, it might be nice to know what to expect. The information here is meant to give you an understanding of what happens in our meetings. The words we use and the way we act might be unfamiliar to you at first, but hopefully this information can help you get the most out of your first NA meeting. If you show up early, stay late, and ask lots of questions before and after the meeting, you’ll probably get the most out of every meeting you attend.``An Introduction to NA Meetings”
“People have all sorts of reasons for attending NA meetings, but the reason for each meeting is to give NA members a place to share recovery with other addicts. If you are not an addict, look for an open meeting, which welcomes nonaddicts. If you’re an addict or think you might have a drug problem, we suggest a meeting every day for at least ninety days to get to know NA members and our program.”``An Introduction to NA Meetings”