The Recovery Class Room is a 501c3 non-profit organization supporting all pathways to recovery. Our primary mission is “to connect & engage with all who suffer from substance use disorders & to communicate a message of hope, healing & restoration”.

WHO WE ARE

We are a group of men & women, from many different backgrounds & different walks of life, all of whom share & suffer from a common illness: addiction. Whether from drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, food, etc… we all understand the importance of having a strong support network where we can celebrate successes with friends & offer encouragement to those who need a friend. Understanding that everyone recovers differently, we do not believe in a “one size fits all” approach to recovery; instead we encourage the individual to find, decide & commit to a pathway (12 Step programs, religion, medical interventions, etc…) that will work for them. And we want to help them begin building that network of friends to encourage them along their way.

HOW WE DO IT

To build & strengthen our fellowship, we meet every Friday night for our CrossTalk meeting which is open to anyone who wishes to join. During this meeting we discuss topics & answer questions that are deep & meaningful to the individual with a conversational approach. There is “No such thing as double-dipping” at CrossTalk. No lengthy readings & no overly structured format. Simply a group of folks having a back and forth discussion – a dialog. Our goal is to make the new comer feel as if they’re setting at a restaurant with their friends, drinking a cup of coffee & having a conversation about recovery. Our true objective is to get the individual comfortable enough where they feel like they can begin to open up & share about their addiction.

We also host CrossTalk meetings inside local treatment facilities in an effort to reach those who are new to treatment, or those that may be attempting it again. For those new to treatment, we want to demonstrate a meeting environment that differs from what they may be expecting when they think of “meetings”. For the person making another attempt at treatment & may be familiar with traditional meeting formats, we want to demonstrate a meeting that focuses more on dialog rather than dogma.

WHAT WE’RE NOT

We are not a treatment facility & we are not a 12 Step group. We’re not an AA group, nor an NA group. We don’t host AA nor NA meetings. We cant & we wont, out of respect & observance of their traditions & their singleness of purpose.  Instead, we are a dual-purpose group of friends that host dual-purpose meetings, supporting each individual’s pathway through recovery. Although not endorsing any specific program, we have adopted the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous as our source of reference & their suggested 12 Steps as a guide for recovery & conversation & seek to share its message with those whom it may resonate.

WHY NOT AA/NA?

Many people ask why we don’t make CrossTalk an AA meeting since we adopted the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous as our reference. Simply put, out of respect for those AA meetings that already exist, but also because A.A.’s founder Bill Wilson specifically instructs us not to. He shares this instruction in P-35 titled “Problems Other Than Alcohol“. Originally published in the GrapeVine in 1958, it became a common piece of literature found in AA rooms.

“Therefore, I see no way of making nonalcoholic addicts into A.A. members.”

-Bill Wilson, pg 3, P-35 problems other than alcohol

Wanting to be of “maximum service to God & the people about us” as written in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (see pg 77 in BB), we want to help both addicts & alcoholics. However, Bill Wilson indicates his opinion that nonalcoholic narcotic addicts cant be granted membership to AA. To fulfill our purpose of “maximum service” & maintain respect for his subsequent instruction, we decided to start our own group, following Bill’s continued advice also found in his publication.

“We cannot give A.A. membership to nonalcoholic narcotics addicts. But, like anyone else, they should be able to attend certain open A.A. meetings, provided, of course, that the groups themselves are willing.

A.A. members who are so inclined should be encouraged to band together in groups to deal
with sedative and drug problems. But they ought to refrain from calling themselves A.A. groups.

There seems to be no reason why several A.A.s cannot join, if they wish, with a group of straight addicts to solve the alcohol and the drug problem together. But, obviously, such a dual-purpose group should not insist that it be called an A.A. group, nor should it use the A.A. name in its title.”

Bill Wilson, pg 3, P-35 Problems other than alcohol

By not calling ourselves an AA group or an AA meeting, we are respecting his beliefs as well as those AA groups that currently provide meetings to countless others. The Recovery Classroom is our group & CrossTalk are our meetings.

We fully believe what is found in the Forward To Third Edition in the Big Book:  “Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength and hope” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1939).  We achieve this mission by hosting our CrossTalk events (meetings) in Huntington, WV & by maintaining an online, social media presence.

CrossTalk Formats:
CrossTalk events make available to area participants, meetings in multiple formats to reach (connect with) as many people as possible, including:

  • Group Discussions – the primary format used for CrossTalk events, where several members of the RCR engage in conversation & dialog with others in a group discussion meeting, asking questions, replying to others & engaging in general conversation on a fluid topic agenda.
  • Individual Speaker – As the name implies, this is a format where a scheduled speaker comes & shares with the group their own personal story of recovery.
  • Timer Q&A – environment of a tv game show, this interactive format allows clients to submit questions to a panel of 4 or 5 individuals who have a limited amount of time to answer each question. (Treatment facilities only)
  • Interactive Speaker Q&A – this format is similar to a speaker meeting, but allows participants to interrupt & ask questions regarding the information the speaker is sharing.
  • Small Group – this is usually a one-on-many format, where one or two members of the RCR will sit within a group of about ten to fifteen people & work to engage them all on a fluid topic agenda that is created in real time.
  • Youth Engagement – we provide a Q&A session to clients, allowing them to ask recovery related questions to teenage & early adult children of parents within RCR.

Our goal for every CrossTalk event is to get participants comfortable enough to speak up & share; to make the individual feel like they’re at a restaurant with their friends discussing recovery while enjoying a cup of coffee.

Strategic Goals
We want to accomplish several things with this effort:

  1. We want to remove the ideas about “meetings” & “groups”  being dull, boring, or irrelevant that are often associated in the minds of people coming into or reentering recovery. 
  2. We want to teach others how they can start & sustain CrossTalk meetings in their local areas.
  3. Communicate & educate to individuals that there are different fellowship, support groups & peer networks available to help them.
  4. Recovery is not a one size fits all approach; nor are meetings a “one meeting equals all meetings”. 
  5. Introduce them to different personalities, characters & different types of meeting.
  6. Reinforce & reiterate that we are not wanting to replace 12 Step programs of recovery (AA/NA) or any other approach, but rather assist them in discovering which program/pathway may work more effectively by changing their perceptions & levels of engagement within recovery meetings.
  7. Create an excitement, passion & enthusiasm in others about recovery & the significance that their impact can have upon their local communities.