Good for you for deciding to take a look at your drinking and deciding to try a support group.

I can give you the advice that I was given when I went to my first AA meeting.

Go to an open meeting. An open meeting is simply one to which everyone, not just alcoholics, can attend. Up here, those are usually speaker meetings where one or two people share their story of addiction and recovery. There's usually no pressure to speak, and if you are asked if you want to speak, it's totally fine to say "I'm just listening today." Sometimes they'll ask if anyone is new or wants to introduce themselves. Totally up to you whether or not you do.

When you get there, there are often greeters at the door welcoming people. You can say nothing or you can tell one of them, that it's your first meeting. I'd recommend that. People in AA are in my experience very friendly and supportive. If you tell someone it's your first meeting, they'll probably show you where the coffee is, show you some introductory literature and introduce you to a few other people. The friendliness can feel kind of overwhelming at first but just remember that everyone who is there is there because they want to not drink, and they want to support each other in acheiving that.

Some of the language of the meeting may seem foreign or old fashioned. That's ok, it takes a bit to get fully comfortable with the program. I usually tell people to attend 5 different meetings before deciding if AA is right or wrong for them..

I went to AA for years and it helped me, although I did struggle with staying sober. I've been sober just under 4.5 years now and my current recovery program is actually Women for Sobriety which just is a better fit for what I believe. You can google them if you want to see what they're about.

If you're interested in exploring other sobriety groups, in addition to Women for Sobriety, there's also SMART recovery which uses a more CBT approach to recovery. I have a number of friends who like and use SMART recovery.

If you'd like any other info, feel free to pm me.