The above Minnesota Recovery Page is primarily focused on 12-step programs. So for a little balance, I am listing some non-12-step organizations, and that don't seem to be listed in any of the above directories.

• First, A Word About A.A. (Alcoholics Anonymous) and Narcotics Anonymous

  Often people find A.A. to be annoyingly dogmatic and / or too religious. Though A.A.'s literature and Traditions (particularly the long forms of the Traditions) and the "Twelve Steps And Twelve Traditions" are clear about there being no "musts" in A.A., other than a desire to stop drinking, many (probably most) groups have evolved a lot of musts or strong shoulds, such as you must have a sponsor, you must work the steps in a certain way, you must go to several meetings a week (even 90 meetings in your first 90 days), you are powerless over everything without our help and guidance, etc. However, there are many A.A. groups that are less dogmatic and can be a great resource for recovery for even the very independent-minded. Try these suggestions:
  
  

  • Groups labeled Topic, Discussion, and Big Book often are a relief from what some find to be the constant hammering away on the Steps (many people think they are religious despite what some may try to tell you about substituting a light bulb or "the group" for God and Higher Power), as no non-deity concept of "God" makes sense in many of the steps. Step Eleven ("Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out" is the most obvious example of a step where no non-deity concept can replace "God" and still make any sense.
        The Steps and Tradition Two apparently describe a favor-dispensing deity -- one who will restore us to sanity, manage our lives, care for us, love us, remove our shortcomings, listen to our prayers, give us power, and guide our groups.
        Four Federal Courts of Appeals (Second, Third, Seventh, and Ninth circuits) and Two State Supreme Courts (New York and Tennessee) have ruled that Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are at least religious in nature, and that nobody can be coerced by government authority into attending these organizations (as that would violate the First Amendment's prohibition against the state establishment of religion). No Federal Court of Appeals and no State Supreme Court has ruled otherwise. To date, the United States Supreme Court has declined to consider any of these rulings, thus letting these rulings stand. For more on these court rulings:
    • Warner v. Orange County Department of Probation, 2nd Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, 1996
    • Kerr v. Farrey, 7th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, 1996
    • Griffin v. Coughlin, New York Court of Appeals (New York's highest court), 1996
    • Arnold v. Tennessee Board of Paroles, Tennesses Supreme Court, 1997
    • Rauser v. Horn, 3rd Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, 2001
    • Inouye v. Kemna, 9th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, 2007
    • Hazle v. Crofoot, 9th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, 2014
  • Avoid groups that meet at the larger Alano Clubs -- they tend to be more dogmatic and try to enforce conformity. There are exceptions.
  • Try smaller groups -- they tend to be more informal and value new (and existing) members more because they want to continue to exist and grow. Again there are exceptions.
  • Be patient, keep trying different groups until you find some that fit. There are all kinds of groups out there.

  Click Here For links to Agnostic A.A. and regular A.A. and Narcotics Anonymous and Other 12-Step Organizations

• Addiction Busters - A mixture of cognitive, non-AA, non-12-step approaches to addictions of all kinds Addiction Busters -- Open to Men and Women -- Tuesday 730 p.m. - 930 p.m.
  Men's Center in Minneapolis, 3249 Hennepin Ave S., Room 55 (in the basement)

• SOS - Secular Organizations For Sobriety Minnesota Secular Organizations for Sobriety - 3 meetings in Minnesota (yes, all in the Twin Cities) as of 7/15/18 -- Edina (Tuesday and Wednesday) and Minnetonka (Friday) (sosminnesota.com)

  Secular Organizations for Sobriety (international) (sossobriety.org)

• SMART Recovery (Self Management and Recovery Training) - a cognitive approach based on Albert Ellis's Rational Emotive Therapy As of 7/15/18, there are metro area meetings in Minneapolis, New Brighton (2), Edina, Spring Lake Park, Cambridge. One of the New Brighton ones is a family and friends one. There are some Greater Minnesota ones too. www.smartrecovery.org/meetings_db/view/

• 16-Step Recovery 16 Step Recovery/Discovery Groups (http://charlottekasl.com/recovery-discovery-groups/)
  Currently (7/2018) no Minnesota meetings. There used to be one near Lake Harriet in South Minneapolis for many yhears.
       The 16-Steps For Personal Empowerment does not have religious (or deity-spiritual) slant but sounds kind of "new age". But at the meeting I attended, it was just people talking about their progress in sobriety (and some from drugs), and dealing with other life issues. There was no dogma beyond a simple reading of the 16 steps at the beginning of the meeting.

• Moderation Management, Minnesota (for people who wish to reduce their drinking, as well as for those who decide to abstain)
  • As of 7/18/18 there apparently is one in Minnesota -- in St. Paul -- and that one has been "on hiatus" for several years. http://www.moderation.org/meetings/index.shtml#Minnesota. If that link doesn't work, try www.moderation.org and in the left side menu, look at the Live Meetings link and the Emerging Meetings link.
    
  • For online groups, see www.moderation.org and look at the Online Support section.
  • Also try Addiction Busters (south Minneapolis 4 blocks east of Bde Maka Ska (Lake Calhoun) - they have some people trying moderation approaches
  • Best Moderation Management book, "Responsible Drinking - A Moderation Management Approach For Problem Drinkers", Rotgers, Kern, Hoeltzel, 2002. Excellent and very practical on the various ways people make a moderation plan and what they do if they don't meet their goals. It also has Moderation Management's guidelines on drinking (a good plan in itself). Many suggestions for alternative activities. Also good suggestions and support for abstinence (which by the way many moderators choose to do for one or more 30 day periods a year). The extensive Blood Alcohol Charts in the back of the book are the most credible ones I've seen.

• Non-conventional A.A. (Non-conventional Alcoholics Anonymous) Ones that really emphasize the freedom to choose one's own concept of a higher power(s) or to have none at all

  • We Agnostics, Alcoholics Anonymous, Minnesota (Atheists, Agnostics, and secularists who find AA to be too religious (and not just merely "spiritual") We Agnostics of Uptown (Uptown in Minneapolis)
    Every Sunday 6:00-7:00 p.m.
    Every Wednesday 7:00-8:00 p.m.
    Men's Center in Minneapolis (Women welcome too),
    3249 Hennepin Ave S.,
    Room 55 (in the basement)
    Corner of 33rd St. W. & Hennepin Ave. S.
       (3 blocks south of the Hennepin Ave. / Lake Street intersection;
        and 3 blocks east of Lake Calhoun).
    Minneapolis, MN 55408
    Contact: tcAgnostic (at) gmail.com
    This group is also listed at the Minneapolis A.A. Intergroup (www.aaminneapolis.org) - it is listed under "Minneapolis, Southwest"
    (This group was formerly known as Atheist/Agnostic AA)
    
    Other We Agnostics groups (U.S. and worldwide)
    
    • Secular A.A. Meetings (www.secularAA.org). It has meetings throughout the world
    • Another secular A.A. resource not to be missed -- A.A. Agnostica (aaagnostica.org )
    • Yet another secular A.A. resource not to be missed -- A.A. Beyond Belief (aabeyondbelief.org )
    Links to A.A. in Minnesota and worldwide, as well as other 12-step "anonymous" organizations such as Narcotics Anonymous, Al Anon etc. - Normally on this web page I don't list resources that are very well-known and/or covered by the Minnesota Recovery Page (MRP) ( http://www.minnesotarecovery.info ) -- the Minnesota Recovery Page (MRP) is an excellent listing of all of the 12-step "Anonymous" groups that have meetings anywhere in Minnesota, and some that don't. As well as some non-12-step groups). But I will make an exception to my non-listing policy here for A.A. and Narcotics Anonymous since people who are reading this section might be keenly interested:
    
    • AA in Minneapolis and suburban cities in the following counties: Hennepin, Anoka, Carver, Western Dakota, Scott and Wright (www.aaminneapolis.org) - You can reach a recovering alcoholic any minute of any day by calling (952) 922-0880
      
    • AA in St. Paul and suburban cities in the following counties: Ramsey, Washington, Chisago, and Eastern Dakota (www.aastpaul.org). You can reach a recovering alcoholic any minute of any day by calling (651) 227-5502
      
    • A.A. in Northern Minnesota (www.area35.org)
      
    • A.A. in Southern Minnesota (www.area36.org)
      
    • THE Alcoholics Anonymous website (www.aa.org)
      
      

    • Narcotics Anonymous Minnesota (www.naminnesota.org)

  • Pagan-Friendly A.A. This group probably has more non-pagans than pagans. Its main claim to a special listing is that they doubly-emphasize that everyone really is free to choose their concept of a higher power(s) (or none at all), and don't try to pressure you into believing in a prayer-answering favor-dispensing deity. Currently (7/2018) they are listed at the Minneapolis A.A. website in the "Minneapolis, Southwest" section as the "Equinox" (Thursday 7 pm) and "Solstice" (Monday 7 pm) groups, meeting at the Twenty Four Hundred Club (enter back door), 2400 Blaisdell Ave. But check the Minneapolis A.A. website (aaminneapolis.org) for the latest information. (Note: searching that website for "pagan" does not work, you just gotta "know" the code).