A Training DVD Is Not Your Chair

Key takeaway

You are in custody, and staff mentioned DV-02 as if a training video meant help was here. Corrections professionals who are not A.A. members discuss meetings, for staff, probation officers, lawyers, and judges. The disc does not put you in a chair tonight. Desire to stop drinking is the membership line.

Last updated: Tue Oct 06 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

You are in custody, and a staff person said a video means help is here. Maybe they named DV-02. Maybe they only said there is a training DVD about meetings. For a minute it sounded like a door. Then you realized the disc is not in your unit, or it is, and it is playing for someone else. You are still in the same room you were in before they mentioned it. The hope flared and dropped. That drop is exhausting.

The DVD does not put you in a chair tonight.

Made for people who are not in the chair

DV-02 is a DVD of corrections professionals who are not A.A. members. They discuss the value of meetings in facilities. It is for training staff, and also for probation officers, lawyers, and judges. That audience is the job around the system, not the person hoping for a chair. The catalog does not describe the disc as the meeting you attend.

They are not members talking as members. That matters, because A.A. is one alcoholic sharing with another. A professional explaining why meetings have value can be useful to a coworker who has never seen a group. It is a sideways thing to offer you when what you asked for was a place to sit. You can respect that they made a training tool. You do not have to pretend it arrived as your program.

If a meeting already happens in your facility, it happens because people there arranged it, under that building's rules. A disc in a training library did not substitute for the hour. If no meeting is within reach, mentioning DV-02 did not create one. A meeting from a locked unit is the page that stays honest about buildings. It will not invent a request procedure, and this DVD will not either.

A disc cannot unlock tonight

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees. You are welcome regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income, or profession. None of that welcome is stored on a staff video. You join nothing by nodding along to a training discussion you may never even see.

When a real meeting is available, you can sit and listen. Introducing yourself is not mandatory. You need not join a prayer. People share what drinking did, what they did to stop, and how they live now. The purpose is experience, strength, and hope. Court referrals are welcome. Membership stays voluntary. Proof of attendance, if anyone cares about paper, has no set procedure. Each group decides. The video is not that paper.

Phone meetings exist in the world. They are not a promise your facility allows a phone. If you are out, or if someone who loves you is the one who can dial, a phone meeting is a meeting. What to expect covers an ordinary doorway. You can just listen. aa.org is not a meeting finder. The meetings search is a place to look when you can look, and the listings are not verified, so confirm the time.

If the probation officer who mentioned the disc is the one who drinks, that fact does not change your night. The DVD is training material, not a program, and a desire to stop drinking is the membership line for them too. It still does not put you in a chair.

If you are sick inside

A training disc will not notice if you cannot breathe. Call 911 if you can reach a phone and you are sick, confused, or cannot breathe. If you cannot reach one, tell the nearest person who can get medical help. Call or text 988 if you are in a mental health crisis and a crisis line can be reached. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. NIDA says mutual-help groups such as A.A. are peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. A meeting is not detox. A DVD about the value of meetings is not detox.

FindTreatment.gov lists programs. SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is free, confidential, and available 24/7 in English and Spanish.

Tonight

Do not wait for DV-02 to become a chair. If a meeting is actually available to you, go because you want to stop drinking, and leave the training video to the people it was made for. If no meeting is available, you were not helped by a mention of a disc, and you are allowed to say so. The desire to stop is still the line that makes you a member when a room exists. Staff training is their job. Your night is yours.

Call (800) 653-9376 if you need treatment; the call is free to you, treatment providers pay for the referral, the line is not an intergroup, and the line is not A.A., and it is not SMART Recovery.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

Common Questions

If staff have this DVD, does that mean a meeting is happening for me tonight?

No. DV-02 shows corrections professionals who are not A.A. members discussing the value of meetings. It is for training staff, and also for probation officers, lawyers, and judges. A disc can sit on a shelf you never see. It does not schedule your hour or walk you to a chair. If a meeting already exists where you are, it did not come from that video. If it does not exist tonight, the disc did not create one.

Are the people on the video in A.A.?

The catalog describes them as corrections professionals who are not A.A. members. They are talking for people who work around the system. That is different from one alcoholic talking with another. You do not become a member by agreeing with a training video. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees. You can sit and listen if a real meeting is available to you.

What if the officer who mentioned the video also drinks?

Then the video is still their training material, not your meeting. Desire to stop drinking is the membership line, for them and for you. Their drinking does not schedule a chair. If a meeting is actually available where you are, go for that desire. If it is not, DV-02 still has not put you in a room tonight. You do not have to sort out someone else's drinking before you can name your own.

Can I ask to watch it instead of going to a meeting?

Watching will not count as a meeting, and it will not make you a member. The video may tell staff why meetings matter. It will not tell you what to do with a craving tonight. If a meeting is actually available, that is the hour that matches a desire to stop. aa.org is not a meeting finder. When you can look, use a local list or the meetings search and confirm it. Listings here are not verified.

What if I am sick inside and all they offered was a video?

A video is not care. Call 911 if you can reach a phone and you are sick, confused, or cannot breathe. If you cannot, tell the nearest person who can get medical help. Call or text 988 if a crisis line is reachable and you are in a mental health crisis. Alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. A training DVD is not detox. FindTreatment.gov lists programs.