NA members hold nearly 76,000 meetings weekly in 143 countries. We offer recovery from the effects of addiction through working a twelve-step program, including regular attendance at group meetings. The group atmosphere provides help from peers and offers an ongoing support network for addicts who wish to pursue and maintain a drug-free lifestyle.
Our name, Narcotics Anonymous, is not meant to imply a focus on any particular drug; NA’s approach makes no distinction between legal and illegal drugs including alcohol. Membership is free, and we have no affiliation with any organizations outside of NA including governments, religions, law enforcement groups, or medical and psychiatric associations. Through all of our service efforts and our cooperation with others seeking to help addicts, we strive to reach a day when every addict in the world has an opportunity to experience our message of recovery in their own language and culture. This website is the contribution by members living in Ventura County towards that worldwide effort.
We are not alone, you are not alone.
The Narcotics Anonymous message is “that an addict, any addict, can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use and find a new way to live.”
NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using. We suggest that you keep an open mind and give yourself a break. Our program is a set of principles written so simply that we can follow them in our daily lives. The most important thing about them is that they work.
Many of us feel that our fundamental commitment in recovery is to our Higher Power. Knowing that we lack the power to stay clean and find recovery on our own, we enter into a partnership with a Power greater than we are. We make a commitment to live in the care of our Higher Power and, in return, our Higher Power guides us.
This partnership is vital to staying clean. Making it through the early days of recovery often feels like the hardest thing we've ever done. But the strength of our commitment to recovery and the power of God's care is sufficient to carry us through, just for today.
Our part in this partnership is to do the very best we can each day, showing up for life and doing what's put in front of us, applying the principles of recovery to the best of our ability. We promise to do the best we can--not to fake it, not to pretend to be superhuman, but simply to do the footwork of recovery. In fulfilling our part of the recovery partnership, we experience the care our Higher Power has provided us.
The disease of addiction turns us into masters of self-deception. A distorted view of the world might convince us that we're smarter than the average addict. When we're new to Narcotics Anonymous, this outlook can keep us separate from everyone in the room and lead us right back out the door.
The pain of stubbornly holding on to our perceived uniqueness can keep us stuck in isolation. As one member found, "Eventually the pain was great enough, and it didn't matter how different I thought I was from everyone else. I was an addict, and if I didn't want to die, I had to start doing some work."
Step Seven shows us that in surrendering the defect of denial, we can let go of arrogance and pride, creating room for humility and identification within the Fellowship. We can see our humility grow when we can sit in a meeting and naturally hear the similarities rather than our differences.
When we trust a loving Higher Power to remove our shortcomings, we begin to make space for our true selves and develop a sense of our place within an NA community. Regardless of how long we have been clean, how old we were when we got here, or our career status--we remain teachable. The gift of humility allows us to learn how to ask for help and take suggestions.
Sometimes, even with years clean, we can convince ourselves that "our case is different" or "we are the exception." Calling our sponsors, regularly attending meetings, and continuing to practice spiritual principles remind us that we share the bond of addiction, as well as a common solution in NA. Whether we think we are "nowhere near that bad" or "the most flawed person in the room," we eventually find a place where we can be right-sized by continuing to work the Steps.
Address:
P.O. Box 23596
Ventura, CA 93002
24-Hour Phone line: 1-888-817-7425
Email: [email protected]
Here are some tips to help you understand how to get started:
Simply find a meeting on our meeting directory page.
No need to make an appointment, but maybe show up a bit early, and have a seat anywhere you like.
Have a listen, share, or don’t share.
Mostly just learn you are not alone.
None of us could do this alone, we do this together.
For us drugs had become a major problem.
To help each other stay clean, we recovering addicts meet regularly.
No initiation fees or promises are required.
You are already a member if you have the desire to stop using.
If you want to do something about your problem:
We want to know how we can help.
We all thought we were powerless to do anything about our addiction.
Experience has shown us, if we keep coming to meetings regularly, we stay clean.