I’m real, but Thomas McGuiness is a pseudonym that I chose to preserve my anonymity as a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. I’ve remained sober for more than 39 years as an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.).

Anonymity offers important and practical benefits to each A.A. member and to A.A. groups, as well as to the organization as a whole. It is addressed in A.A. literature and in A.A.’s Twelve Traditions.

Tradition Eleven: “Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.”

Tradition Twelve: “Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all
our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.”

The “A.A. and Anonymity” page on aa.org provides a good summary of this reasoning.

I write about recovery and spirituality among other topics on this site. Staying anonymous allows me to be very transparent and personal without violating A.A. traditions or breaking the anonymity of family and friends who also are in recovery.

Please note that, unless otherwise noted, all content on this site is based on my personal experience. I am not a trained addiction counselor.