Addiction Support Group : Narcotics Anonymous

Many participants engaged the group with stories of overcoming addiction or being sexually molested by family members as reasons behind their addiction. However all of their stories were compelling and empowering to the group of individuals who have seemed to endure some of the same sentiments as their fellow group mate. It appeared as if the individuals in the group even though that were court ordered appeared to be extremely engaged and very involved during the meetings. It seemed as though most who attended found peace and solice from the group during the NA meetings. As it stated by Krentzman, Robinson, Moore, et.al (2010), client’s state that their top two reasons for attending NA meetings were to promote recovery/ sobriety and to find support acceptance and friendships. One thing that I learned from the NA group that just as in AA, family support deems to be an important function on the perseverance of an addict and that the participation and involvement of family is detrimental in the treatment process for the addicts. In several of our readings many of the passages discussed the effects of family systems support as it pertains to substance abusers chemical addiction. The passages described the family system as being a detrimental part of the treatment process as well as for the treatment of the family as well. According to past studies, family involvement has aided clients in

For the self-help meeting in regards for my reaction paper, I attended a Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting. NA is a nonprofit, community-based, 12-step recovery organization for recovering drug addicts (Bowens, 2011, p. 1). The meeting I attended took place outside on a Saturday afternoon at Magnolia Park in Garden Grove, California. It is an open-group tag meeting, where one speaker will tag another person to share and welcome for anyone to attend. It was very easy to locate the meeting, as it was right in front of the park’s only parking lot with members sitting in a circle on benches and lawn chairs. The meeting started at 12:00pm and ended around 1:30pm.

The purpose of this research paper was to attend two support group meetings and share my experiences. The meetings that were to be attended were an Alcoholics Anonymous

Despite the higher cost, a high-end substance abuse treatment center does not constitute better treatment. The support of therapists, counselors, family, friends, and peers can all be important factors in the recovery process. The most significant factor for an individual in the recovery process is a desire and a willingness to change. Many options exist for individuals that want to recover from addiction. These options include substance abuse rehabilitation centers and support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and SMART Recovery. These programs all have the same goal but use different techniques that at times even contradict other programs. Although the approach of the programs may vary, they have all been proven to work for certain

For the support group observation assignment, I attended the Gateway Group’s Alcoholic Anonymous (A.A.) meeting. The Gateway Group is part of a larger organization called the Tri-County Intergroup Association of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Tri-County Intergroup serves A.A. members in Franklin, Wake, and Warren Counties and is broken down into 113 separate groups. As the preamble states, the purpose of all A.A. group meetings are for A.A. members to share their experience strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. There are no dues or fees for being an A.A. member, and the only requirement for membership is to have a desire to stop drinking ().

As member of alcoholics anonymous for 2 years, I could see that Narcotics Anonymous have the same structure as Alcoholics Anonymous. To illustrate, in Narcotics Anonymous ware people that told me the differences between them and AA. They told me that because AA meeting became mix, and the program was for specific issue that is alcohol. The members of Alcoholics Anonymous suggested to Narcotics to start their own program based in the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. That is why in the 1950s, Narcotics Anonymous emerged. In addition, I noticed that both programs open and close each meeting the same way. Members let people talk in front of them, and they let them have therapy if they need it. The duration is the same time for both meetings, 1 hour and 30 min. They have sponsor if someone need it. In my opinion, those programs are important for personal recovery. I could experience by myself. I see the work that this programs develop in each human been when we face some issues. Sometimes, we do not have the advice that we need in our families to recover our self from addiction. Sheltering us with the hope that one day someone will comes, and helps us to recover from the pain and addiction that we are passing through; there were Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous to rescue our souls from the

At the beginning of my training, I was hesitant to work with people struggling with addiction. However, at this point, I am excited to begin working with this population. The raw honesty presented in the group setting along with the anger at the possibility of losing a safe place created a dynamic I wanted to further explore. Research supports that individuals attending group therapy in a 12 step program format succeed if they have the proper support and motivation (Cite). The group dynamic demonstrated that recovery takes time and self-discovery, similar to other situations dealt with in therapy. Subsequently, by using my sense of self and humor with clients struggling with addiction, I can help them in their journey. Furthermore, the client needs to identify accountability at their own pace in the process and not when others dictate. This knowledge and the personalization of addiction will aid me in the future support of my

Psychoeducational groups relating to additions or substance abuse are designed to assist participants in their stages of change, learn about recovery, provide information to families to understand behaviors, and to assist participants with resources and skills (U.S Department of Health and Human Services, n.d). Psychoeducational groups will support participants and encourage them to take responsibility for their actions. These groups will utilize different methods to replace addictive behavior and practice mindfulness to work on any cognitive impairment that their addiction has produced (U.S Department of Health and Human Service, n.d). In addition, substance abuse or addiction psychoeducational groups provide participants support and peer confrontation. Other members are able to support the group by offering education about what has worked well for them, or what has not work well. The group processes also provides emotional support for members to assist in personal recovery.

Last night, I attended a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. This was not quite a new experience for me, be my late father was an alcoholic and narcotics addict that died of cirrhosis later on in my life this is why I identified myself with them. Narcotics Anonymous is a fraternity or association where there a recuperating addicts and their main purpose is stay clean. Consequently, the member of this fraternity were well-groomed, yesterday was ice cream sticks day where they had a keyword written on a little piece of paper, such as “perseverance”. Anyone can be a narcotics or alcohol user.

The meeting for Narcotic Anonymous that I attended was at 7:30 pm on March 09, 2017, at the Rolling Hills Baptist Church Fairfield, Ohio. The meeting lasted one hour and a half and approximately 50 people attended (approximately due to the fact that people kept constantly coming in and out of the meeting), the census was a mix of males and females from diverse ages. A group of three students attended the same meeting, we wore our Miami University badges at all times and arrived a few minutes early in order to introduce ourselves to the leader and the group in general. The group leader was a twenty eight years drug free member, as the meeting started he asked anyone who is under the influence or who had drugs on his/her possession to leave

The group that I attended was a Narcotics Anonymous (NA). The meeting was held at the VA, every Monday at 6pm. The meeting was free and open to the public. The meeting lasted for 1 hour. There was a time limit. As we approached the end of the hour the leader announced it and said that if there were any last thoughts before the meeting ended. This gave me the impression that they stick to their time limit.

In my entire life I have never felt so grateful for a program for changing my life around. If it weren’t for these people being part of this amazing Narcotics Anonymous program I would not be here talking about this kindhearted group of people. My life was a total mess, before it was like if I had no future for myself and felt like my head was not attached to my body. These people in the NA program has been generous the only thing I had to do is have that desire to stop using. The hardest thing for myself to do was being able to enter that meeting for the very first time.

Addiction can be one of the hardest things to overcome in an individual’s life. Having to go through the process alone can be extremely difficult, not to mention the withdraws that come from fighting an addiction. However, there are many support groups and different associations a person can join to help them fight of their addiction. Even so, addiction is still extremely hard to fight off. So what can an addict do when they have done everything to fight off their addiction, but they are still addicted? They do what many people have done when they are in need, they turn to a higher power, something or someone who is greater than themselves. Having a higher power when one has an addiction, can help them fight off and possible completely quit

What do support groups do for a quitter? They establish a plan for putting the habit behind and teach the participant skills to cop up with cravings. They also explain how the addiction works; understanding that the habit goes further than just a physical matter

support is provided for everyone with drug problem. The so-called groups are available in format such as;