AA Meetings in Portland

Find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Portland, Oregon, today through Portland Area Intergroup at pdxaa.com, which runs a 24-hour hotline at (503) 223-8569 and lists more than 900 meetings a week. A Westside office serves the western metro, and Spanish-language groups are listed separately. Our meeting finder at /meetings/ searches public AA feeds by day and format.

Call 911 if someone is overdosing, seizing, not breathing, or cannot be woken. For a mental health or suicide crisis, call or text 988.

How to Find AA Meetings Across Portland

Portland Area Intergroup is the central office for the city and much of the metro. Its 24-hour hotline, (503) 223-8569, connects you to information about meetings and the program, and the intergroup says there are more than 900 meetings a week across the Portland, Oregon, area. The meeting search at pdxaa.com is the fastest way to narrow that list by day and location.

A second office covers the western side of the metro. The Westside Central Office serves the western Portland metropolitan area from 6950 SW Hampton Street, #117, in Tigard. It can be reached at 503-684-0415 and says it is currently open by appointment. Its list at westsidecentraloffice.com is the one to use for meetings on the west side, while the 24-hour hotline stays with Portland Area Intergroup.

Spanish-language groups are listed by Portland Area Intergroup under the heading Alcohólicos Anónimos en Oregon, and the Westside office also lists Spanish-language meetings such as a women's Spanish Big Book study. Ask either office for the current Spanish-speaking rooms and times.

A.A. is clear that its national website is not a meeting finder and points people to a local office and the free Meeting Guide app. Our meeting finder adds another search, pulling public A.A. and N.A. feeds by day, time, fellowship, and format. Confirm the meeting with the group before you set out.

One note for out-of-towners: Portland, Maine, is a different city with its own central office, and the two are easy to mix up in a search. Everything here is Portland, Oregon.

Portland Meeting Hubs & Neighborhoods

Portland sits on the Willamette River, with downtown on the west bank and most of the city spreading east, and the MAX light rail ties the halves together.

• Downtown and the City Center. The transit mall downtown is where most MAX lines converge, making central meetings easy to reach from across the region. The intergroup office is on the west side of the river.
• Northwest Portland and the Pearl District. Northwest 23rd and the Pearl sit close to downtown and are served by several bus lines, with meetings in community halls and churches.
• Southeast Portland. The Hawthorne, Division and Belmont corridors are dense with meetings, and the Blue, Green and Orange MAX lines cross the east side.
• North and Northeast Portland. The Yellow Line runs to the Expo Center through North Portland, and Northeast neighborhoods are covered by the intergroup list and frequent bus routes.
• Gresham and the east metro. The Blue Line runs east to Gresham and beyond, so meetings in the eastern suburbs are reachable by rail.
• Beaverton, Hillsboro and the westside. The Blue and Red lines serve Beaverton, Hillsboro and the Sunset Corridor. This is Westside Central Office territory, with its own meeting list.
• Milwaukie and Clackamas. The Orange Line runs south to Milwaukie, linking the southeast suburbs to downtown.

Meeting Formats & What to Expect

A.A. labels meetings open or closed. An open meeting welcomes anyone interested in A.A.'s program of recovery, including observers, while a closed meeting is for A.A. members or people who have a drinking problem and want to stop. If you are new, an open or newcomer meeting is the gentlest way in.

The intergroup tags listings by type, so you can choose before you go:

• Newcomer: for people new to recovery.
• Discussion: the group shares on a topic.
• Step Study / 12 & 12: working A.A.'s Steps and Traditions.
• Big Book: reading and discussing A.A.'s basic text.
• Speaker: members share their story, then the meeting opens up.
• Men's, women's, LGBTQ+, Spanish, and wheelchair-accessible meetings each appear as their own type.

Whatever the format, two rules hold. A.A. says there are no dues or fees for membership, so attendance costs nothing and the passing basket is optional. And no one is required to speak; A.A.'s newcomer page says you may simply listen. Anonymity is a founding principle, so what you hear in the room stays there. The first-meeting guide walks through a typical hour.

Getting Around & Meeting Online

TriMet runs the region's transit, and its MAX light rail system connects Portland City Center with Beaverton, Clackamas, Gresham, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, North and Northeast Portland, and Portland International Airport. MAX trains run every 15 minutes or less for most of the day, every day, and the bus network adds dozens of routes that connect to the rail lines. For anyone without a car, a meeting near a MAX station or a frequent bus line is the easiest to reach.

Not every meeting is in person. A.A. recognises in-person, online and phone meetings, and local listings include virtual options. Our finder shows online and hybrid meetings from public feeds, and the online A.A. meetings guide explains how they work, including attending with your camera off.

Peer Support vs. Medical Care

An A.A. meeting is peer support, not clinical treatment. NIDA notes that mutual-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous are peer-led and are not run by healthcare professionals, which is what makes them different from treatment — though they are free, ongoing, and often used alongside professional care.

Some risks call for a doctor. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life threatening when people who drink heavily over time stop suddenly instead of tapering or stopping with medical support. Up to half of people with alcohol use disorder have some withdrawal symptoms, and a small proportion need a few days of medical detox. If you have been drinking heavily, talk with a clinician before you stop.

For help beyond a meeting:

• Emergency: call 911 for an overdose, a seizure, trouble breathing, or someone who cannot be woken.
• Crisis: call or text 988 for a mental health or suicide crisis.
• Treatment: search FindTreatment.gov or call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) — free, confidential, 24/7, in English and Spanish.
• Referral help: call or text (800) 653-9376 for help figuring out a level of care. SmarterRecovery is a referral helpline, not Portland Area Intergroup; calling is free to you because treatment providers pay for the referral service.

Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help finding treatment. If you need a meeting today, start with the meeting finder or the Portland Area Intergroup search and confirm it. For a medical emergency or a suicide crisis, call 911 or 988 first.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• Portland Area Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous (pdxaa.com)
• Westside Central Office (western Portland metro; address and phone)
• TriMet: MAX Light Rail (lines and cities served)
• TriMet: Bus service (route count and connections)
• A.A.: Need help with a drinking problem? (what to expect at a first meeting)
• A.A.: What to Expect at an A.A. Meeting (open and closed meetings, meeting types)
• A.A.: A.A. and Anonymity
• A.A.: Find A.A. Near You (regional and online meeting information)
• A.A.: Meeting Guide app
• NIDA: Treatment (mutual-help groups are peer-led, not clinical treatment)
• NIAAA Core Resource on Alcohol: Alcohol Use Disorder, From Risk to Diagnosis to Recovery
• SAMHSA National Helpline
• SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• SmarterRecovery meeting finder (public meeting search; listings are not verified by this site)
• SmarterRecovery about page (referral disclosure)

Common Questions