Start a Meeting Guidelines

Home
Start a Meeting Guidelines

12StepNationalMeetings.com

Meeting Submission Guidelines

Everything you need to know before adding a meeting to the directory.

This directory exists because finding a meeting shouldn't be hard.

12StepNationalMeetings.com is an independent, crowdsourced directory of 12-step recovery meetings across the United States. It is owned and operated by SoberGroup.com / MyNew Technologies LLC and is not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, or any other fellowship organization. We do not speak on behalf of any program, and no fellowship has endorsed or approved this site.

Every meeting in this directory was submitted by a member of the recovery community — someone like you. We are grateful for that. These guidelines exist to protect that community and to make sure the directory remains a trustworthy resource for anyone who needs it.

Submission Guidelines

This site is independently operated and not affiliated with any fellowship

We are not AA. We are not NA. We are not affiliated with any of the 41 anonymous fellowships listed in this directory. Submitting a meeting here does not constitute official registration with any program, and your meeting does not need the approval of a central office or intergroup to be listed here.

We ask only that the meeting actually exists and that it operates in the spirit of peer support and mutual aid that the 12-step tradition is built on.

ℹ Each fellowship maintains its own meeting finders and registries. Listing here is separate from and complementary to those resources.

All submissions are reviewed by a human moderator before publishing

Every meeting you submit goes into a moderation queue. A real person on our team reads every submission before it appears on the site. This typically takes 24 to 48 hours, though it may take longer during high-volume periods or weekends.

We moderate every submission because this directory serves people in recovery — a community that deserves accuracy, safety, and trustworthiness. We do not auto-publish.

✓ We verify the meeting appears to be a genuine peer support group

✓ We check that the address or link is a real, usable location

✓ We confirm the fellowship category is appropriate

✕ We reject submissions that are commercial services, therapy practices, or treatment centers

✕ We reject submissions that contain personal home addresses

ℹ You will not receive an automatic confirmation email when your meeting is approved. Check back in 48 hours and search for your meeting by name or location.

Do not submit personal home addresses or private contact information

Many 12-step meetings take place in churches, community centers, hospitals, libraries, and other public or semi-public spaces. Those addresses are appropriate to list here.

Some meetings take place in private homes. Do not submit a private home address. The safety of meeting hosts is not something we are willing to compromise for the sake of a directory listing.

✓ Appropriate to list

Church fellowship halls
Community center meeting rooms
Hospital or clinic conference rooms
Library meeting spaces
Zoom, Google Meet, or other virtual meeting links
Group email addresses (e.g. aa.chicago.group@gmail.com)

✕ Do not submit

Private home addresses
Personal cell phone numbers
Personal email addresses
Unlisted or unpublished location addresses
Addresses of sober living homes where residents live

⚠ If your meeting location changes, please use the contact form to request an update. Do not submit a duplicate listing.

Meetings must be genuine peer support groups, not commercial services

This directory is for voluntary, peer-led, 12-step recovery meetings. It is not a place to advertise treatment centers, rehabilitation programs, therapy practices, life coaching services, sober living facilities (as businesses), or any service that charges a fee to attend.

The defining characteristic of a 12-step meeting is that it is free to attend, peer-led, and based on the principle of one addict helping another. If a meeting has a cover charge, a required registration, or is run by a paid professional as a therapeutic service, it does not belong in this directory.

✓ Open or closed AA, NA, Al-Anon, or any of the 41 listed fellowships

✓ Faith-based recovery meetings such as Celebrate Recovery

✓ Online meetings hosted via Zoom, Google Meet, or phone bridge

✕ Treatment center group therapy sessions

✕ Paid sober living programs or recovery coaching services

✕ SMART Recovery, Refuge Recovery, or non-12-step programs

ℹ Not sure if your meeting qualifies? Contact us before submitting and we'll let you know.

Use accurate meeting information — especially day, time, and location

Someone in early recovery may use this directory to find tonight's meeting. Inaccurate information is not just a data quality problem — it can be a real barrier for someone who is trying to get help. Please double-check the day, time, and address before submitting.

✓ Include the full day and time: "Tuesdays at 7:00 PM" not "weekly"

✓ Include the room number or building name if the venue has multiple spaces

✓ For virtual meetings, include the full Zoom link or dial-in number

✕ Do not submit a meeting if you are unsure it is still active

One submission per meeting — no duplicates

If you submit the same meeting more than once, only one listing will be approved. Duplicate submissions do not speed up the review process. They create additional work for our moderation team and slow down approvals for everyone.

If you submitted a meeting and have not seen it appear after 48 hours, contact us with the meeting name and we will check the moderation queue.

⚠ If your browser showed an error after submitting, your meeting may have already been received. Wait 48 hours and check the directory before resubmitting.

What happens after you submit

Your submission is received

Your meeting is added to a private moderation queue. It is not visible to anyone on the site yet. You will not see it in search results until it is approved.

A human reviews your submission

Our moderation team checks the meeting details for accuracy, safety, and eligibility. This typically takes 24–48 hours. We may contact you at the email you provided if we have questions.

Approved meetings go live immediately

Once approved, your meeting appears on the relevant fellowship category page and in search results. It will also be included in future SEO indexing — helping people find it through Google.

Rejected submissions are removed

If a submission does not meet the guidelines above, it will be removed from the queue without notification. Common reasons for rejection include: private home address, commercial service, duplicate submission, or meeting no longer active.

Our commitment to accuracy

We rely on the recovery community to keep this directory accurate. If you find a listing that is out of date, has a wrong address, or should be removed, please let us know. Keeping this directory accurate is a collective effort — and it matters.

Ready to add your meeting?

It takes about two minutes. Your meeting will appear in the directory after review — free, permanently, and without any account required.

+ Submit a Meeting

Have a question first? Contact us →

0 Shares