Discussion Board 4

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Liberty University *

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Arts Humanities

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Jan 9, 2024

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On Sunday November 26 th , 2023 at 3:30 pm EST I attended an Al anon online meeting hosted by “Sunday Night AL anon” Al-Anon was created by the wife of the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous and it practices the use of modified 12-step and 12-tradition principles so that they are more applicable to spouses and family members of alcoholics (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). This was the first of the experiential meetings for one of this week’s discussion boards, and it was not something I was used to. This meeting was hosted completely online and without video, so it was entirely anonymous with around 22 in attendance. The host of the meeting gave everyone a warm greeting to start, and then allowed for anyone that wished to speak to do so. From what I could tell from how the host sounded, she was probably in her mid-20s and she did say that she was doing these meetings because of her husband. I could not tell if he was the drinker in the family, or if she just hosting meetings because he too liked to volunteer. As the host was opening the floor to anyone new or returning, she took a moment to “recognize anniversaries.” One person spoke up, but said they got their physical chip from a local meeting a few days ago, and even though this person did not have to speak up, I think it was important to recognize that anniversary in this group as well, so that new comers could see that anniversaries are possible. Once the floor had been opened up and all new, immediate concerns were addressed, the host moved onto what is known as The Twelve Steps of Alanon, the Twelve Traditions, and the Serenity Prayer. It almost felt as though these were done more to get everyone involved and speaking rather than what they actually stand for. This may be due to the fact that the meeting was completely online without being able to at least see peoples faces. This can create issues because one main reason/focus of these groups and the similar is that they show, “you’re in it
together,” meaning you are not alone. However, you do not get that same “together” vibe in a faceless online meeting. One thing I did take away from most of the stories that people shared was their level of patients. You could tell the newer members did not have a lot of this quality, and the older members would then instruct them in ways to help develop stronger patients, the patients it takes to stick out the addiction ride with their loved one. How they needed the patients do accept the relapses and continue to fight by that person’s side in a supportive manner because whatever their family members were addicted to, addiction is a disease and they did not want to lose their loved one to a disease. The meeting ended with the extended serenity prayer, some more lighthearted conversation regarding what everyone had done for the holiday, and a few folks exchanging information for closer or more direct support. Overall, it was hard to gauge the effectiveness of the meeting. This having been my first “support meeting” experience, seeing the people express real problems with real pain, and being understood, supported, and encouraged by the other members of the group, to the extent of some getting phone numbers and email addresses of each other, I would have to say that it was a success at connecting like-minded, similarly hurt, situationally connected people, but I think they also need to work on giving these family members the tools they need to support their loved ones. REFERENCES Al-Anon (2005). Alcoholism, the family disease. Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia. Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. D. (2020). Foundations of addictions counseling (4 th ed.). Pearson.
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