Tradition 8 · August 1

The Shingle

Daily Traditions · August 1

Where it goes wrong

Twelfth Step work is one drunk sitting with another, talking him through getting sober. It is the engine of the whole program, and it has never cost a nickel. Now imagine a member who is good at it — years sober, dozens of people carried through, a real gift for the work. He rents a small office and hangs out his shingle: the little sign a doctor or a lawyer puts up to announce a practice. Nothing about it is illegal, and the people who come to him get better. Bill W. wrote that sign himself. In A.A. Tradition — How It Developed, he imagined the door and the exact words on it: "Bill W. — Alcoholics Anonymous Therapist. Charges $10.00 per hour." Then he named the thing plainly: "That would be face-to-face treatment of alcoholism for a fee." Then came the verdict this whole month turns on: "It would be quite legal, but hardly ethical." Legal was never the bar. A man with a rate card has a fee schedule, a caseload, a livelihood — he has something to lose. And what A.A. had to give him was a man with nothing to sell.

Sit with

Bill drew the sign himself, priced it, and called it legal but not ethical. What changes in a conversation the moment one person is being paid to have it?

Grounded in: P-17; long form, Tradition 8.

Tradition 8

"Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers."

Read the Long Form (pp. 563–566). The short form on pp. 561–562 is the one everybody quotes — but the Long Form is where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's "no other affiliation" clause, for instance, exists only in the Long Form. That single clause is why no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. Most of what circulates online skips it.

And a distinction worth keeping straight: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals, and not outside businesses. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned or co-opted. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

What the Traditions actually say → The Long Form, p. 563 → Search the Big Book → Every day this month →

Ask Recovery Einstein about Tradition 8 → Get the app →

←All of August Tradition 8All of August August 2 →The Night They Told Him No

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).