Meeting Type and Format Definitions

Meeting Types:

• Closed – Only for people who self-identify under ACA’s Tradition 3, which states, “The only requirement for membership is a desire to recover from the effects of growing up in an alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional family.” 

• Open – Open to anyone (ACA members, family, friends, and/or professionals)

• Men-Only – A meeting attended by men only. 

• Women Only – A meeting attended by women only. 

• Young Adult – Ages 18 to 26 years old 

• ACA Teens – Ages 12 to 18 years old

• LGBT+  – *Defined by individual meetings.  Some examples are:

  • For those who identify as LGBT+

  • For LGBT+ as well as allies  

  • The meeting focus is specific for LGBT+ ACAs

• People of Color

• Secular

• Beginners – *Defined by individual meetings.  Some examples are:

  • Topics specific to beginners

  • Special portion of the meeting for beginners

  • Beginners only

​Meeting Focus – *Defined by individual meetings 

• Discussion – sharing time may or may not focus on a specific topic 

• Fellowship Text – meeting uses topics from one of the fellowship texts to open sharing time

• Book Study – meeting reads and sharing on one of the fellowship texts 

• Steps – the focus of the meeting is discussing and/or doing work on the steps 

• Speaker – meeting is led by a speaker and meeting may or may not decide to open the floor for sharing by attendees 

• Workshop – focused discussion around a topic – may be ongoing sessions – may be temporary

​*More information on how individual meetings define their meeting types and focus, see their description in the meeting list or contact the meeting directly.

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**ACA MASALA gathering is intended for Adult Children of South Asian descent who live or have lived outside South Asia. We welcome people of all identities and forms of expression. These include but are not limited to race, ethnicity, nationality, caste, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, relationship, occupational, health, or socioeconomic status. The MASALA acronym roughly approximates to Multicultural Adult Children of South Asian Ancestry Loving Association/Living in America/Abroad. For safety reasons, we ask that newcomers introduce themselves briefly with video on at their first meeting.