Aa Meeting Research Paper

The group facilitator was a Caucasian man in his forties named Bob. Bob had been in and out of recovery for nearly 16 years, but recently relapsed in August of 2015. He has experienced four overdoses since then, and is on his way to working the 12 steps again. Bob has been sober for about six weeks now. In the group meeting, there were 20 members (four female, 16 male) in this meeting, composed of 75% Caucasian, 20% Hispanic/Latino, 5% African-American, and 5% Asian (just me). Majority of the group members appeared to be in the middle class, hypothesized from listening to their stories of owning cars, homes, apartments, taking care of children, and having employment. Many of them appeared to be in their late thirties to late forties. There were a few children (children of group members) and one

I noticed that the participants did not look like what I perceived someone who was suffering from alcohol dependence would look like. They looked like productive law-abiding citizens. I am embarrassed to say that it never occurred to me that these individuals could live positive lives while battling alcoholism. I assumed that they would be dysfunctional and incapable to participate in the meeting. Instead many of them looked healthy and were eager to engage in the group discussion.

I have never experienced what it would be like to be a part of an AA meeting. The only time I have had seen or heard someone mention meetings for alcoholics has been TV shows and movies, which would portray these meeting as a circle of strangers just deliberating stories of their life and how this disease has changed them forever. Therefore, I had no idea what to expect. I felt intimidated and had a sense of nervousness, so I decided I would not go alone and brought a friend. My expectation upon entering this meeting was to see beat up people with bad hygiene and a homeless appearance. As a matter of fact, the expectations I had upon walking towards this place was that I was going to get hit on and even get kidnapped. As crazy as it

For this assignment, I observed an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting held at The Meeting Place on Wednesday, September 28, 2016. There were 15 members in attendance, 12 men and 3 women not counting myself. The group leaders were both women and sat at the front of the room. For confidentiality of the group member names will not be included. The meeting began with the group leaders reminding the attendees of the rules of AA and the process of the meeting. Several of the attendees read the declaration of AA and the documents associated with the meeting structure. After the introduction, several of the members gave their testimony regarding their own experience with drinking. Following the short declarations, a passage of the big book was

Each person said their first name. The chair of the meeting read the guidelines for the meeting. Individuals were welcome to share their experience. The open topic for the first half of the meetings focused on how Al-Anon has helped the individual in their daily lives. One person shared that they have implemented the Serenity Prayer and teaching from Al-Anon into their work lives as well as to relationships with family and friends. Another person shared that they have learned how to set boundaries and adhere to them. Learning how to make sure that they held themselves responsible if they allowed someone to cross the boundary. As with Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon also has a Twelve Step structure and several people commented on the steps that they are currently on and what the steps have meant to them. No problems or issues were discussed. Individuals talked about how they are connecting with themselves, not trying to change or control the person/persons in their lives who have the addiction. The comments made were ones of encouragement. At several times in the meeting a sponsor sign in sheet was passed around. At a half way point in the meeting, new comers were invited to go to another room to meet with a member to get additional information and ask any questions that they may have. In the second half of the meeting, the group was encouraged to share whatever they wanted to talk about. One person spoke about the guilt they felt when they decided to end their marriage from the spouse with the addiction. How their child at the time blamed them for the break-up and how it took almost three years for that adult child to even communicate with them. Others talked about being lost, and having feelings of misery and hopelessness. They could not “fix” the person with the

I went to a traditional 12 step AA meeting. It was a long timers group, which had individuals who have been attending AA for a while now and those who have been sober for at least 10 years or more. It was at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, located in Johnstown, Pa. The meeting was from 7:30pm to 8:30pm. They started off the meeting by reading the preamble. The preamble, which was found and quoted from the District 41- Alcoholics Anonymous, Johnstown, Pa website (2015), “Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.” After the preamble they had one of the attendees of the group read the 12 steps.

I attended the Alcohol Anonymous (AA) meeting on Friday right after internship, which is located on 205 SW 23rd St, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I was a little bit shock after arriving to the location because the building was surrounded around residential homes, for a moment I thought I was lost. The meeting started promptly at 5:30pm for an hour and meets four days a week. The topic of the meeting was HALT which stand for hungry, along, and tired. Ordinarily, the guest speaker of the meeting is also a recovering alcoholic. He greeted everyone and passed out literature that was going to be discussed in the group.

Following the “Guidelines” literature. It was brought back to the leader, he stated “My name is_____, and I am an alcoholic” which he followed by a topic for conversation and proceeded to speak on his encounter related to the topic he mentioned. After he was finished, the members responded with “Thanks, (name).” He then opened the meeting for discussion. At, first people were hesitant to verbalize their experiences and thoughts. One of the long-time members spoke first. I know he was a long-time member form the story he shared. Once he concluded his story, several others followed. Consequently, this section of the meeting took most of the hour allotted. When it came close to an hour; the leader started to bring the meeting to a close. He asked if anyone else would be willing to lead the next meeting. He read a statement, that explained that the meetings were self-supporting and any donations would be used to sponsor the meetings and its requirements. While he read that statement another member passed a collection basket. Once the basket had made its way back to the beginning the leader mentioned that he would now pass out the sobriety tokens. I had recognized these form a client I had worked with at my social services agency I interned at this year. The different color tokens represent the various stages of sobriety for each individual. As soon as, all the tokens were handed out the leader asked everyone to

My first experience at an alcoholics anonymous meeting was very interesting and in a way uplifting. At All Saints Lutheran Church the home group called “The Young People’s Group” there were people who had come from all walks of life. The group meeting that I thought would have been rather small slowly became larger and larger over the course of the night. I was unaware that the AA meetings had been setup with a set of codes or rules for those who struggle every day to fight this addiction. They allowed people who were new or if it was their first meeting to introduce themselves and tell their story to the fight of addiction related to alcohol. I was really impressed with the fact that the AA groups have an awards system for reaching

Attending a local Alcoholics Anonymous meeting was a humbling and informative experience. To be completely honest, I had no idea what to expect going into the meeting. Right before I walked in, I felt somewhat uncomfortable and embarrassed. I felt as if I was intruding on someone’s personal life with my presence, even though I knew I was welcomed since the meeting was listed as “open”. Alcohol abuse is a very sensitive topic to me, as someone quite close to me is an alcoholic: my Uncle. I know that he is a recovering alcoholic, but I never quite know what is going on with him because I don’t ask questions and he never shares what he is feeling with me. When I was younger, I remember that he was always the life of my family parties, but I know now it was because he was drunk. When I see him now, he isn’t as energetic as he used to be and often avoids situations where alcohol is involved. Although my Uncle did not personally tell me, my father has shared with me that he attends AA meetings at a church in my hometown. I never understood what AA meetings really entail and didn’t grasp how they helped alcoholics recover. Attending this local AA meeting helped shed light on what my Uncle feels, and I am more understanding to his addiction. I am thankful for this assignment because I know that my Uncle is not alone; the AA community is so supportive and the members all have the best intentions of getting

The objective of this study is to write a reaction on a 12-step meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous with the focus of the meeting being attitude modification. The meeting attended was the Stairway Group meeting in Decatur, Alabama. The members who attended this group meeting were of all ages, of both the female and male gender and were white, black, and Hispanic individuals. The majority of the attendees were males.

For this paper I attended an Alcohol Anonymous meeting (AA), so that I could experience a new type of group that I have never been exposed to before. I attended the AA meeting here in Macomb, at the First Presbyterian Church on October, 1 2016 at 8:00pm. I learned about this group because a classmate informed me about it. I decided to choose this specific group because I have never been to an AA meeting before. I felt this would be a good way to get exposed to something I have never experience and to get a better understanding of an AA meeting.

There are millions of people who have and who are suffering from alcoholism. For those seeking help with their addiction, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) may be the right for them. While this program is not promised to be a cure, and the authors of this program does not promise full recovery, it provides an atmosphere where members can be honest about their dependency on alcohol. Furthermore, AA provides support from other alcoholics, and rewards for meeting certain sobriety anniversary dates. This paper explores the history and major developments of AA. Furthermore, this paper explains the structure of meetings, and the roles the leader and members play during meetings. This paper also touches on AA’s definition of success and how it handles members who relapse. Additionally, this paper explains this student’s experiences of two AA meetings she attended, which include what she learned from attending the meetings, and what she learned from the people she met at the meetings.

The meeting began with a prayer and a reading of the twelve steps, which I did, and preceded into a 25-minute meditation session. Following the meditation session, the floor was opened up for persons to reflect on their meditation. It was quiet for sometime, but eventually persons began to talk. Each person that spoke introduced himself or herself as, “Hi I am XXXX and I am an alcoholic” in which the rest of us responded with a hello. The discussion each person brought to the circle often revolved around what they had been experiencing in the last week, and ended with a positive-spin that reflected back on their journey with sobriety. One gentleman talked about his spring break on Orca Island with his kids, another discussed a speaker he was arranging to have visit Spokane, and another woman talked about an “essay reading party” she went to in which wine was being drank by the majority of participants. The meeting ended with the serenity prayer, something the girls at Daybreak say before lunch, and simple discussion between some of the participants. During this time I talked with the woman who had told me where to find the AA meeting. She talked with me about the need to find the proper AA meeting for myself, encouraging me to explore multiple

We missed you at our hall meeting today, but I understand that life can get in the way. Thank you for letting me know that you were going to miss the meeting today, you make my life easier when you let me know. I am attaching the PowerPoint I used at the meeting tonight. If you have any questions regarding anything on the PowerPoint, please let me know and I am happy to answer them. I hope you have a fantastic week!