I'm in recovery too from alcoholism. I have just over 6 months sober. I go to AA meetings and find them incredibly helpfull - they're about the only thing that work for me in helping me stay sober.

You don't need to be embarrassed about going to AA. First off, everyone takes annonymity really seriously so anyone who sees you at a meeting won't tell anyone else about it. Plus you only use first names and last initial. It seems kind of weird at first, but now I have a bunch of friends whose last names I don't know.

Getting involved is easy too. Just look up AA in your phone book or google AA in your area. They'll probably have a website and a number that you can call to find out about meetings. I'd start with what's called an open speaker meeting. Anyone, not just alcoholics, can attend open meetings, and the format is there are a bunch of standard readings at the beginning, and then a speaker who talks about what it was like when they were drinking, how they came to AA, and what their lives are like now that they're sober. Sometimes the group chairperson will ask if there are any newcomers, it's totally up to you whether or not you introduce yourself.

This is the advice that was given to me about going to my first meeting.
When you get there, ask to be introduced to the group secretary, tell them that you're new and want to stop drinking.

Odds are they'll show you to the literature table that will have lots of different pamphlets about AA and alcoholism. Pamphlets are usually free. They'll probably also offer to give / sell you a Big Book. The Big Book is Alcoholics Annonymous and it's kind of the bible of the program. It completely describes AA and what you need to do in order to recover, plus at the back it has a collection of short stories by people in recovery about how they recovered. I think a Big Book costs around $10 or so. I'd highly reccomend getting one and reading it.

Go to a bunch of different meetings to check them out as each meeting has a slightly different mix of people and feel. Once you've found a meeting where you feel really comfortable you can join that group and it becomes your home group.

As you get to know people in AA, you'll soon get to know people who seem happy and content in their recovery. Ask one of them to be your sponsor. Your sponsor is someone who helps you work the steps, and is someone you can call on if you feel like drinking, or just have another problem that you need to discuss. Some groups offer temporary sponsors to newcomers, until they can find their own. I'd suggest taking advantage of this if it's offered as having a sponsor can be super helpful.

Don't be turned off if you hear God talked about a lot. Some groups emphasize God more than others but really it's a spiritual program not a religious program. You get to come up with your own concept of a "Higher Power" and a lot of people simply start out by using their group as their higher power, since the people in the group are staying sober which is something the alcoholic can't do on their own.

I really hope you'll give AA a try. It's been a lifesaver for me.

--splitimage