Information on this page was aquired from the pamphlet above and also from the Area 31 Handbook.  See both of these for more information or you may attend a CPC Meeting in your Area.

THE WESTERN MASS AREA 31
CPC COMMITTEE
"Cooperation with the Professional Community"

Tradition Eleven: Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.

CPC Meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00pm at the Grace Untied Church
474 Pleasant Street in Holyoke.

Directions to the facility are located on the contact us page of this website; The CPC meeting is held in same hall as the
Area 31 Committee Meeting

If you would like more information on the CPC Committee please e-mail them at:
cpcchair31@yahoo.com

What is the… Cooperation with the Professional Community Committee of Alcoholics Anonymous (CPC)? What do we do...? How can we help you...?

During your professional work, do you come in contact with people who are alcoholics or have a problem with alcohol? Would you like to know the basics about what the program of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is - and is not - and what potential help it might be to your clients?

The CPC Committee is a group of volunteer members of AA who can come to your staff meetings (or to any group meetings you might like to arrange) to give a short, basic, informational presentation and to answer any questions about the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The CPC Committee is specifically designed to work directly with professionals - i.e., doctors, nurses, social workers, law enforcement, court system workers, parole officers, mental health professionals, lawyers, teachers - in short, any group of professional workers who come in contact with alcoholics or people who have a problem with alcohol who may be potential alcoholics.

If having the local CPC Committee come speak to your group interests you please contact your local Intergroup office and the office person will direct you to contacting a member of CPC. If you are interested in getting active in the CPC Committee please feel free to stop by one of their monthly meetings.

The CPC Committee meets every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7pm at the Grace United Church at 474 Pleasant Street, Holyoke, MA  (please see map to the Grace United Church  under Area 31 Committee page of this website.) For further information on CPC and how AA helps the professional please read the informative literature below.

________________________________________________________

AA and the Professional:

A.A. Wants To Work With You...

Cooperation with the professional community is an objective of A.A., and has been since our beginnings. We are always seeking to strengthen and expand our communication with you, and we welcome your comments and suggestions. They help us to work more effectively with you in achieving our common purpose: to help the alcoholic who still suffers.

A Resource for the Helping Professional

Professionals who work with alcoholics share a common purpose with Alcoholics Anonymous: to help the alcoholic stop drinking and lead a healthy, productive life.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a nonprofit, self-supporting, entirely independent fellowship, “not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution.” Yet A.A. is in a position to serve as a resource to you through its policy of “cooperation but not affiliation” with the professional community. We can serve as a source of personal experience with Alcoholism as an ongoing support for recovering alcoholics.

How the Program Works

AA’s primary purpose, as stated in our Preamble, is:”… to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.” The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. Members share their experience in recovery from alcoholism on a one-to-one basis, and introduce the newcomer to AA’s Twelve Steps of personal recovery and its Twelve Traditions that sustain the Fellowship.

Meetings. At the heart of the program are its meetings, which are conducted autonomously by A.A. groups in cities and towns throughout the world. Anyone may attend open meetings of A.A. These usually consist of talks of one or more speakers who share impressions of their past illness and their present recovery in A.A. Some open meetings—to which helping professionals, the media and others are invited—are held for the specific purpose of informing the non-alcoholic (and possibly alcoholic) public about A.A.

Closed meetings are for alcoholics only Alcoholics recovering in A.A. generally attend several meetings each week.

Anonymity. Anonymity helps the Fellowship to govern itself by principles rather than personalities; by attraction rather than promotion. We openly share our program of recovery, but not the names of the individuals in it.

What A.A. Does NOT Do
A.A. does not: Furnish initial motivation for alcoholics to recover; solicit members; engage in or sponsor research; keep attendance records or case histories; join “councils” of social agencies; follow up or try to control its members; make medical or psychological diagnoses or prognoses; provide drying-out or nursing services, hospitalization, drugs, or any medical or psychiatric treatment; offer religious services; engage in education about alcohol; provide housing, food, clothing, jobs, money or any other welfare or social services; provide domestic or vocational counseling; accept any money for its services or any contributions from non-A.A. sources; provide letters of reference to parole boards, lawyers, court officials, social agencies, employers, etc.

Referrals From Courts and Treatment Facilities

Today numerous A.A. members come to us from court programs and treatment facilities. Some arrive voluntarily, others do not. A.A. does not discriminate against any prospective member. Who made the referral to A.A. is not what interests us—it is the problem drinker who elicits our concern.

Proof of attendance at meetings. Sometimes a court asks for proof of attendance at A.A. meetings. Some groups, with the consent of the prospective member, have the A.A. group secretary sign or initial a slip that has been furnished by the court together with a self-addressed court envelope.  The referred person supplies identification and mails the slip back to the court as proof of attendance. Other groups cooperate in different ways. There is no set procedure. The nature and extent of any group’s involvement in this process entirely up to the individual group.

Singleness of Purpose and Problems Other Than Alcohol

Alcoholism and drug addiction are often referred to as “substance abuse” or “chemical dependency”. Alcoholics and non-alcoholics are, therefore, sometimes introduced to A.A. and encouraged to attend A.A. meetings. Anyone may attend open A.A. meetings. But only those with a drinking problem may attend closed meetings or become A.A. members. People with problems other than alcoholism are eligible for AA membership only if they have drinking problem.

How to Make Referrals to A.A.

Alcoholics Anonymous is listed in most telephone directories. (Some professionals call A.A. while the person is in the office, thus giving the individual an immediate opportunity to reach out for help.)

Or, you can contact the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous for help and information. Write: P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163.

Or phone: (212) 870-3400. Service Detail C.P.C.