Al Anon Meeting Experience Paper

The group prayed after reviewing the guidelines. Then, a participant of the group proceeded to read the “how it works” from the AA book. Afterwards, another member read the 12 traditions. Two participants shared their experience with Alcoholism while others provided reflections and support. The facilitator informed me that each meeting two participants share. After the two participants shared, the AA meeting ended with another prayer. This paper will talk about my observations and reactions attending the AA meeting, and how attending the meeting will inform my future work as a clinician. The purpose of this paper is to present my personal experience of an AA meeting, and how I plan to grow as a therapist from that

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.

The other two people at the meeting declined to speak. They said they just wanted to listen. During the rest of the meeting, Andy spoke more about Step 12 and how to get to that step. Next was another prayer while everyone joined hands. The meeting ended at 1:10pm.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Al-Anon groups have helped a lot of people become sober, and to deal with an alcoholic family member. It takes a lot for a person to first admit to having a drinking problem, and then share their experiences with a room full of people. If they want help, that is what they have to do. Research on two AA meetings provided a lot of knowledge and understanding.

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 ().

Towards the end of the meeting, a basket was passed for collection of voluntary contributions which was then followed by closing of the meeting with the recitation of the "Serenity Prayer". After the meeting, some members stayed and had informal discussions.

Lastly, the chairperson recounted her own personal story with addiction. I was surprised how the group handled her story in a positive way. I noticed at times members laughed and even smiled and others making brief supporting comments. Rather than judge the events of her life, the group members seemed to connect in a personal way. I liked how the meeting was honest and open. Afterwards different members of the meeting read brief AA literature, "How it Works," the "Twelve Traditions" and "The Promises." I listened to each of them very closely

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

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

My grandfather was an alcoholic. He drank from the moment he rose out of bed until he passed out in the evening. He battled with this disease for many years. Drinking alcohol was like breathing air, it was his daily routine until the day he passed away.. Alcoholism took his life at the age of 65. I loved my grandfather; he was a very caring and loving man. In fact, at one point he was an electrical engineer, he lost his job when alcohol took command of his every waking moment. I chose to attend an Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) meeting, because I wanted to gain an understanding of the program, in hopes to increase my understanding of the struggles my grandfather went through. This would be my first AA meeting. This particular AA group is called, The Spring Forest Recovery Group, they meet every Sunday at 7:00 pm. It is located at 4015 Spring Forest Road, Raleigh, North Carolina. Every 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays they have their speaker meeting. Every 2nd & 4th Sunday they have their big book study. This past Sunday was their big book study. Everyone had his or her blue books, titled Alcoholics Anonymous. I walked in sat down and listened carefully as the 12-steps to recovery were being read out loud. The room was still except for the words that bounced and echoed throughout the room. The room is set cafeteria style, 8-foot tables and white chairs filled the room with rows of 4. Group is a mix of multicultural members, with a common problem or

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.

One Thursday night, I ventured out to into the warm early autumn night. I headed to a local hospital, where I knew there was Al-Anon meetings held once every two weeks. I believed that this would be a prime opportunity to witness a self-help group that was geared towards helping the relatives and loved ones of addicts deal with the terror of living with, or without, the addict in question. Addiction is a disease which impacts so many more lives than just the addict themselves. Al-Anon meetings are meant to help support the efforts of those loved ones as they face very different issues associated with addiction.

Again, overeaters is another program that consists of twelve steps which very similar to those of alcoholics anonymous. There was also a leader who asked everyone’s name and reason for attending the meeting. Some people wanted to participate in the meeting and others just wanted to be there to listen and for support. A couple individuals shared very

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.