Known as A.A.

A facility that calls itself A.A.-based is borrowing a name that A.A. refused to lend, and refused in writing early. In 1946 Bill W. described how A.A. stood toward hospitals (A.A. pamphlet P-17, p. 33): "It is not a function of A.A. in the sense of management or ownership." A.A. visited and helped; it did not own a ward or run one. And the name stayed home: "But none of these institutions are known as" A.A. hospitals, he wrote. The Long Form fixed it as the rule for every club and hospital (Big Book, p. 564): "Hence such facilities ought not to use the A.A. name." Today the borrowing is quieter than a sign on the door. A program describes itself as 12-step based, puts the Big Book on its reading list, holds an "A.A. meeting" in its group room every Tuesday, and lists that meeting in its brochure as part of the treatment it bills for. None of that makes it A.A., and none of it makes A.A. answerable for it. But the family paying the bill believes it has bought A.A., and the newcomer believes A.A. is something that costs money. Test it tonight: if a meeting near you is held inside a facility, ask who decided it would happen, and whether the people in the chairs could vote it out of existence.