Brenda Smith Dr. Donna Goodwin Speech Communication I 29 February 2012 Al-Anon Family Groups There are 12 million alcoholics in the United States. That means that 40 to 50 million friends and family members also suffer from alcoholism and its affects. The help for alcoholics is Alcoholics Anonymous and the help for the non-alcoholic is the Al-Anon recovery program. I am here tonight to tell you about the Al-Anon recovery process. It is a free, 100% guaranteed life changing program that will supply you with the tools to survive the effects of someone else’s drinking. This program is for you, the family member or friend of the alcoholic. I have been a proud member of this program for the past thirteen years and in that time I …show more content…
You will be given unconditional love and support from all members. The most important thing to remember is that we too know how you feel and if you keep an open mind you will find help. Al-Anon is a gentle process that unfolds gradually, and in time we discover that the principles of the program can be practiced in all our affairs. Al-Anon encourages members to attend Al-Anon meetings, work the Twelve Steps, read conference approved literature, get a sponsor and attend open AA and Al-Anon speaker meetings. These are the same things that are required of the alcoholic. In closing I would like to urge you, if you are troubled by someone else’s drinking, to think about how the program can help you to find solutions that lead to serenity. Now that I have explained the purpose, the requirements for membership and what to expect from the Al-Anon recovery process I hope you can see the benefits of this free, 100% guaranteed life changing program and how it can supply you with the tools to survive the effects of someone else’s drinking. For anyone that is interested I will be happy to talk to you further about the program and please feel free to take the complimentary brochures I have brought for you today. I always tell newcomers when I take them out to explain the program, “You are already miserable so what have you got to lose by trying the program? Try at least 6 meetings. If then you feel
Alcoholics Anonymous is needed as it carries its message of recovery to the alcoholics seeking help for their addiction. It is
Many people have been misguided about whether or not alcoholism is “disease” that attacks a person’s good health. A key suggestion of those that believe alcoholism is a disease is that a disease is uncontrolled. This is not so. When people develop an addiction to alcohol they tend to push everything of importance out of their lives: family, friends, and sometimes even jobs. People with addiction to alcohol throw
In A.A. there are no dues or fees, the only requirement is a desire to stop drinking. “One of the basic tenets of this group is that the alcoholic is biologically different from the nonalcoholic person and therefore can never safely drink any alcohol at all.” (Ray & Ksir, page 253). Alcoholics Anonymous includes a creed which is made up of twelve steps and twelve traditions. The Twelve steps are briefly: 1) admitting that one is powerless over alcohol, 2) to believe in a power greater than themselves, 3) a decision to turn their will and life over to God “as they understand him,” 4) making a moral inventory of themselves, 5) admitting the exact nature of their wrongs, 6) ready to have God remove all defects of character, 7) humility, 8) making amends to those they have harmed, 9) making amends to those wherever it is possible, 10) admitting to taking personal inventory when wrong, 11) praying for a better contact with God, and 12) spreading the message of what has been learned to others with the problem. (Hayman, page 171). These steps must be
Group therapy has evolved so much that the participant are learning how to help themselves and others. Self-help groups are one of the most popular forms of group therapy. One of the most known self-help groups is Alcoholics Anonymous also known as A.A. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international organization produced to assist alcoholics to recover and live alcohol free lives. It was founded by Bill Wilson and Robert Holbrook Smith in 1935. It is a program, complete with twelve steps and twelve traditions, that was put together to help addicts
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.
In 1935, a fellowship by the name of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) originated as an effort to develop a method for understanding the complexities of and recovering from alcohol abuse and addiction (Clinton & Scalise, 2013; Hester &Miller, 2003). AA is a non-professional spiritual organization of men and women who gather to share their experiences with alcohol abuse/addiction, to convey hope and strength to overcome alcohol dependence, and help others in the recovery process (Clinton & Scalise, 2013).
This paper is a reflective report of the authors’ personal observations, thoughts, and experiences from attending one of the ‘Alcohol Anonymous (AA) meetings’ at Burnaby Fellowship Centre Society. It is a drop-in social club for recovering alcoholics and addicts where its members describe their experiences with alcohol or drug addiction, how they came to the society, and how their lives have changed as a result of attending the program. Burnaby Fellowship Centre Society is part of the AA group which is a self-supporting and independent body. Membership is open to anyone who wants to recover from addictions and the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop the addictions. The main purpose of the AA meetings is to help its members
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
Alcoholics Anonymous relies on a twelve step base towards recovery. These 12 steps have a spiritual background towards them but the founders encourage alcoholics to take what they wants from these steps that will help them and leave the rest. These 12 steps include:
This paper will try to explain the different views of how and why Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs are accepted and rejected as effective tools in treating alcoholism and other addictions. The articles reviewed contradict the others’ opinion. First, we see that supporting the 12-step programs with a degree of involvement both the doctor and patient will see better results in treating the addiction. The second view will show that 12-step programs can be used as “self-help” treatment and must be used in conjunction with other forms of rehabilitation. When AA and other 12-step programs are not used with other forms of treatment, the patient tends to become codependent on the group.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a group composed of men and women who want to stop drinking and help each other stay on the path towards sobriety. They are not affiliated with any other organization, denomination, or institution and the only requirement for membership is the desire to stop drinking (Fisher & Harrison, 2013). They meet at least once a week, if not more to support one another and to share their experiences, struggles, and successes.
This field site is ideal because it’s a primary source, with options for interviews, observations, and interaction. There is also the option to simply observe and take notes on what the speakers are saying, the members’ reactions to the speakers, and the side conversations about their lives. This data is better than what can be found by searching on the internet or through books because it is first-hand accounts of real alcoholics’ lives. By experiencing these people’s conversations, this project will be unavoidably accurate with its data, and have a sense of reality involved as well. An example of a conversation from the first field site visit involved a middle-aged woman named Michelle and two other men talking about their families. Michelle, who’s a single mom of two kids, 18 and 20, was comforting one of her AA friends regarding his own family problems. This was the first taste of how AA works. It’s not only a place for alcoholics to get and
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.
The AA meetings in this society do not work and cause more harm for some people than it would of some of these people did not attend them. These meetings have a 12 step way to help you and step 1 you had to admit you were powerless over alcohol, step 2 you have to believe that a greater power than yourself can restore your sanity, step 3 you had to accept god into your life and
By listening to these people who are recovery alcoholics talk about their experiences, thought me that Alcohol Anonymous, is a program that depends on the belief of a superior bin, whatever that might be for you. This is not a medical treatment that gives the members of AA medication for their addiction, or has an expert who is trying to psychoanalyze them. It is a program that it is run by the same people who have an alcohol problem; there are no experts or people teaching others. It is a simple concept of people sharing their life experiences and following the 12th steps of AA. What I heard is that in AA, they found a place where there are other people like them who are struggling with the same problem and that made a difference for them.