Something to listen to, someone to work with: Adult Children of Alcoholics
Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA) held its 2026 Annual World Convention online on 27 and 28 March. The theme was "Transformation from Hurting to Healing to Helping". ACA says it had 17 workshops and panels, presented by members from around the world, and the recordings are now on ACA's own store.
One thing has changed since the spring. From 1 October 2026, ACA's World Service Organization charges $3 for each downloadable recording. It charged the same before COVID, made newer recordings free during it, and says bringing the fee back helps cover the cost of keeping its audio library going. So these are $3 a talk, paid to ACA, not to us.
Nobody needs all 17. These are the five we would start with, depending on where you are right now.
Five talks to start with
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If the Laundry List sounds like you
3 Keys for Transforming & Healing the Laundry Lists
ACA describes it as a workshop about healing the Laundry List traits: the fourteen traits ACA says many adult children have in common.
▶ Listen ($3) -
If an old voice still criticizes you
Identifying and Reframing Critical Childhood Messages
In ACA's words, a workshop about identifying the critical messages heard in childhood.
▶ Listen ($3) -
If you are raising children
Parenting While ReParenting
ACA describes it as a workshop about parenting your children while reparenting the child inside you. For anyone doing both at once.
▶ Listen ($3) -
If recovery has started to feel like homework
Permission to Play: Healing the Inner Child Through Joy
A workshop about healing the inner child through joy and play.
▶ Listen ($3) -
If your body is carrying it
Finding Safety in the Body Through the 5 Senses
A workshop about finding safety in the body, through the five senses.
▶ Listen ($3)
The rest are on ACA's 2026 convention page. ACA also keeps the recordings of its earlier world conventions, going back to 2016, on its audio recordings page.
If $3 a talk is not possible right now, the reading is free. The Laundry List is on ACA's site, and ACA has free literature to download in more than 30 languages.
If you would rather work through it with others
In most 12-step programs the deep work happens one to one, with a sponsor. ACA's site says adult children have also found another way: small study groups that meet regularly to work through an ACA workbook together, in person, online or by phone. ACA's Fellowship Text, the Big Red Book, calls this "indirect sponsorship".
Two things are worth knowing before you look. New groups are listed only while they are taking members, and most close to newcomers after the first several meetings. ACA says that is on purpose, so the group can build safety and trust. And a study group sits alongside regular ACA meetings: ACA says it does not replace them.
Find a study group on ACA's site. You can filter by in person, online or telephone, and by time zone.
Something to put in the calendar
ACA Annual World Convention 2027
The next world convention is online again. The theme, voted by the fellowship, is "Reparenting Our Inner Family - From Isolation to Connection".
We took these dates, prices and details from ACA's own pages on 26 October 2026. Plans change, so check ACA's page before you plan around it.
And the hours in between
A recording helps when you can't sleep. A study group helps when you are ready to do the work with other people. A lot of the hard moments happen somewhere else: after a phone call with family, or when an old reaction takes over and you only notice it later.
That is where an AI sponsor fits. You can text it at any hour, say what just happened, and work out one small next step to take to your next meeting or study group. It can also look up online ACA meetings for you, from ACA's own meeting search, with the time where you are. It is not a therapist, and it does not replace a meeting, a study group or a fellow traveler. It is not affiliated with ACA, and under its Sixth Tradition ACA does not lend its name to outside enterprises.
If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or text HOME to 741741.
Related: Something to listen to, somewhere to go: Debtors Anonymous at 50 and What is an AI sponsor?
Something for tonight, too.
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