The Referral Pamphlet Is for the Clinic

Key takeaway

A clinic handed you P-23, written for health care professionals, with information about the Fellowship and some referral approaches. You do not have to perform those approaches. You are the patient. Membership is a desire to stop drinking, and treatment referrals are welcome while attendance stays voluntary. You can go to a meeting tonight and only listen.

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

The pamphlet is still bent from your pocket, and it feels like a test you were not in the room to study for. A clinic put it in your hand on the way out, written for the professional across the desk.

You are the patient. You do not have to become the person who does the referring.

The approaches stay on their side of the desk

P-23 is called A.A. as a Resource for the Health Care Professional. It gives information about the Fellowship. It also describes some approaches professionals use when they refer problem drinkers to A.A. Those approaches are for staff. You are not assigned to perform one, rehearse one in the car, or prove you understood the method before you are allowed to want help. If the pages sounded like a chart talking to another chart, that is because the audience was the clinic.

You can set the pamphlet down without pulling a technique out of it. Nothing in your night depends on you playing both roles. The person who handed it to you already has a job. Yours, if you want it, is a meeting. If someone at the desk asks whether you read it, you can say you have it. You do not owe them a summary. You do not owe them a demonstration. The paper can live in the bag while you do something simpler.

What a meeting actually asks

A.A. is one alcoholic sharing with another, and that sharing has been going on for more than 80 years. There are no dues or fees. You are welcome regardless of profession, and the same welcome covers race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and income. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. A clinic can suggest you go. The suggestion does not turn the clinic into the group, and it does not turn you into staff for the evening.

People who arrive from treatment are welcome. Membership stays voluntary. You can be irritated that a professional pamphlet was your invitation and still take a chair because you want to stop. You can sit and listen, or you can share. Introducing yourself is not mandatory. If a basket goes around, whether you put anything in is up to you. Groups normally offer pamphlets free of charge and books at cost. You do not have to buy your way into looking prepared.

Members decide the format, so one room will not match the next. People share what drinking did, the actions they took, and how they live now. A speaker tells what they were like, what happened, and what they are like now. Beginners meetings exist, and so do discussion meetings. You can go in person, online, or by phone. Online can be video on, video off, or a dial-in. If a circle of strangers sounds like too much after a clinic, a dark camera is a real way to be present. The purpose of the sharing is experience, strength, and hope, and hope is allowed to be small.

If they want proof you went

Some clinics ask for a signature. There is no set procedure for that. Each group decides whether to acknowledge attendance. Some will, with your consent, and you are the person who returns the proof. That paperwork is not part of A.A.'s procedure. Ask the group you actually attend. Ask without turning it into a speech. A different meeting may handle a slip differently, or not at all. The referral phone line cannot sign one for you.

aa.org is not a meeting finder. Use a local list, or start with the meetings search and confirm the time, because listings on this site are not verified. What to expect walks through the hour if the unknown is the sharp part. How to find a meeting is the errand. If quiet is the only thing you can manage, you can just listen. A beginner meeting is a fair landing when the regular room sounds like more homework.

Your body comes before the pamphlet. Call 911 if you are sick, confused, or cannot breathe. Call or text 988 if you are in a mental health crisis. A meeting is not detox. NIDA says mutual-help groups such as A.A. are peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. FindTreatment.gov lists programs. SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is free, confidential, and available 24/7 in English and Spanish. If the shaking is the emergency, get care before you worry about a signature. There is a longer note on when withdrawal is an emergency.

Tonight, leave P-23 in the bag. Pick one meeting you can reach, and go as yourself. You do not owe the clinic a performance of their method. A chair, and a desire to stop, are enough.

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

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Common Questions

What is the pamphlet the clinic handed me?

It is P-23, A.A. as a Resource for the Health Care Professional. It gives information about the Fellowship and describes some approaches professionals use when they refer problem drinkers to A.A. Those approaches are for staff. You do not have to learn them or act them out. You are the patient. You can go because you want to stop. People sent from treatment are welcome, membership stays voluntary, and you can sit and listen.

Do I have to perform a referral method before I go?

No. Those approaches belong to the professional doing the referring. You do not have to rehearse a method or explain it back to the clinic. A desire to stop drinking is the membership line. There are no dues or fees. Introducing yourself is not mandatory. Put the pamphlet away and find a meeting you can reach. aa.org is not a meeting finder, so use a local list or the meetings search and confirm the time.

Will someone sign a proof-of-attendance slip for the clinic?

There is no set procedure. Each group decides whether to acknowledge attendance. Some, with your consent, have a member confirm you went, and you return that proof yourself. Proof of attendance is not part of A.A.'s procedure. Ask the group you attend. Another meeting may do something else, or nothing. The referral phone line cannot sign a slip. Confirm the meeting time before you count on a signature.

Can I go if I was sent and I am not sure I belong?

Yes. Meetings welcome people who come from treatment, and membership is still voluntary. You can be unsure and sit down. You are welcome regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income, or profession. The only requirement is a desire to stop drinking. You can share or only listen. Online meetings can be video-off. In person and by phone are real meetings too.

What if I feel too sick to deal with the pamphlet?

Put the pamphlet down. Call 911 if you are sick, confused, or cannot breathe. Call or text 988 if you are in a mental health crisis. NIDA says mutual-help groups such as A.A. are peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. FindTreatment.gov lists programs. SAMHSA's helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is free, confidential, and available 24/7 in English and Spanish.