AA Meetings in Seattle

Find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Seattle today through Greater Seattle Intergroup at seattleaa.org, which answers a 24-hour hotline at (206) 587-2838 and lists more than 1,600 meetings. Bellevue and the Eastside have their own intergroup, and Spanish-language help is available by phone. 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 Greater Seattle

Greater Seattle Intergroup runs the phone line and meeting list for the city. The hotline, (206) 587-2838, is answered by a sober member of Alcoholics Anonymous 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the intergroup describes it as often the first place the public turns for information about A.A. in Seattle. Its website carries the full meeting list, and the intergroup counts more than 1,600 meetings for about 528 groups at nearly 400 locations.

East of Lake Washington, the communities have their own office. Eastside Intergroup in Bellevue runs a 24/7 help line at (425) 454-9192 and an office at 13401 NE Bel Red Road, Suite B6, open weekdays 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah and the neighbouring cities fall under that list — eastsideaa.org — not Seattle's.

Spanish-language contact is available by phone. Eastside Intergroup lists a Spanish help number at 425-355-7541, and it also names an Oficina Intergrupal for the west side of Washington at 206-433-3435. Ask one of these offices for the current Spanish-language rooms and times.

A.A. is explicit that its national website is not a meeting finder: it directs people to a local resource and to the free Meeting Guide app. Our meeting finder offers another search, pulling public A.A. and N.A. feeds by day, time, fellowship, and format. Confirm the meeting with the group before you travel across the region.

Seattle Meeting Hubs & Neighborhoods

Seattle sits between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, and the neighborhoods are stitched together by buses and the light rail line, which shapes where meetings are easy to reach.

• Downtown and Belltown. Downtown is the heart of the transit network, where buses and the light rail converge. Meetings in the city core are the simplest to reach from elsewhere in the region.
• Capitol Hill. The Capitol Hill light rail station puts this dense, walkable neighborhood within minutes of downtown, and it has a large share of evening and newcomer meetings.
• The University District and North Seattle. The light rail runs north through the U District and on toward Northgate and Shoreline, connecting campus-area and north-end meetings to the rest of the city.
• Ballard, Fremont and Queen Anne. These north and northwest neighborhoods are served by buses and are home to long-running groups; some listings in the intergroup directory name Queen Anne and Ballard halls directly.
• West Seattle and Burien. West Seattle sits across the water to the southwest, and Burien, just south, has a strong recovery community and its own meetings in the intergroup list.
• The Rainier Valley and South Seattle. The light rail continues south through Beacon Hill, Columbia City and Rainier Beach, tying the southeast neighborhoods to downtown.
• Bellevue and the Eastside. Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland are covered by Eastside Intergroup, and the light rail's 2 Line now reaches Bellevue and Redmond. Treat the Eastside as its own list.

Meeting Formats & What to Expect

A.A. sorts meetings as open or closed. An open meeting is open to 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 uncertain, an open or newcomer meeting is the easier start.

Listings are also tagged by format:

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

Two things are true at every meeting. It is free — A.A. says there are no dues or fees for membership, and the basket that may be passed is a voluntary contribution you can decline. And you never have to speak; A.A.'s newcomer page says sitting and listening is fine. Anonymity is a founding principle of the fellowship, so what is said in the room stays there. The first-meeting guide describes a typical hour.

Getting Around & Meeting Online

King County Metro operates the region's largest bus network and runs Sound Transit's Link light rail within the county. Link travels from Lynnwood City Center south to Angle Lake, stopping at the University of Washington, downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport along the way, with trains every 6, 10 or 15 minutes depending on the time of day. Because the line runs through the urban core and out to the airport, a meeting near a station is reachable without a car from much of Seattle.

Meetings also happen online. A.A. recognises in-person, online and phone meetings, and local listings include virtual options. Our finder surfaces online and hybrid meetings from public feeds, and the online A.A. meetings guide explains how video and phone meetings work, including attending with your camera off.

Peer Support vs. Medical Care

A meeting is peer support, not clinical treatment. NIDA describes mutual-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous as peer-led and not run by healthcare professionals, which is what distinguishes them from formal treatment — though they are free, ongoing, and commonly used alongside professional care.

Some situations belong with 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. A small proportion of people with alcohol use disorder need a few days of medical detox for symptoms that can be dangerous. If that is your situation, 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, English and Spanish.
• Referral help: call or text (800) 653-9376 for help sorting out a level of care. SmarterRecovery is a referral helpline, not Greater Seattle 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 intergroup meeting list and confirm it. For a medical emergency or a suicide crisis, call 911 or 988 first.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• Greater Seattle Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous (seattleaa.org)
• Greater Seattle Intergroup: 24-hour Hotline
• Eastside A.A.: Locations and 24/7 help line (Bellevue and the Eastside)
• Eastside Intergroup: Contact Us (office address and hours, Spanish help numbers)
• King County Metro: Rail travel (Link light rail, Sounder, Seattle Streetcar)
• 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