Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting

The Alcoholic Anonymous meetings that I attended were both located in Chandler Arizona. The first meeting I attended was on Thursday May 28 at 1 pm, it was held at Chandler Presbyterian Church the address, 1500 W Germans Rd. Chandler, Arizona 85286. The second meeting that I attended was held on May 29, 2015 at 11 am it was located at a place called the Get It Together Hall, address 393 W Warner Rd. Chandler, Arizona 85224. The first meeting that I attended had more males than females and the average age was about 45-50. The second meeting had an equal mix of males and females and the members appeared much younger, the average age was probably 25-45. Both meeting were set up pretty much the same, using an open forum. The meetings would began with one of the members reciting the Alcoholic Anonymous pledge. Then other members would read announcements about the meeting and go over important rules for the members to follow.

Per my customary tradition of attending anything for the first time I arrived early to survey the environment as well as obtain a seat that would provide the most optimum observation vantage point. The alcoholics anonymous (AA) meeting I attended was held at the House of Disciples Life Recovery Center, a ministry of Wiseman Ministries. Interestingly enough, it used to be a funeral home. As I walked through the doors the first thing I noticed was a faint but distinct smell of burnt coffee, tobacco, and donuts. Making my way deeper into the meeting hall I located the source of the smell. After helping myself to a cup of java I walked over to a table sitting in front of chairs placed in a

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.

Walking into an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting I did not know what to expect. I have never been in a room with so many people who were desperate to stay sober or even become sober. Individuals that are trying to stay sober realized that life is worth living, and they are deserving of a fresh start on life because of the AA meetings. Some people have been sober for a long time (over ten years) and still attend AA meetings. There were people from different ages, gender, and race all in one room. They were people who worked a blue collar job, businessmen and women, people that retired. Each any every one of them had one thing in common, substance addiction. Most of the people at the AA meeting were alcoholic, some addicted, and others introduce

Going to the AA (alcohol anonymous) meeting, I was not sure what to expect for this is my first time attending such meeting. I did some research just to have an idea. Walked in saw a group composing of both men and women of different races and age sitting ready to be given the signal to talk about a something most of them don’t have control over. Most have been an alcoholic for over 20 years. The discussion leader introduces a topic with some brief comments and then throws the meeting open. A guy name Pete who is a recovered alcoholics started off by stating his name and began to explain the impact of being an alcoholic has had in his life and his loved ones, the daily struggles he would go through. He talked about times where he would feel like nobody. He went on to describe his first experience about coming to the AA meeting stating that he felt as if he was in the wrong place, with the wrong people, and taking the wrong approach to his drinking problem, but after attending a few meetings with the help of other members, hearing stories of other people he knew he was in the right place. Everyone else saw him as a human being who has an addiction and looking for help.

Everyday, more and more people are being claimed by alcoholism. The most important message AA makes is that there is help available, and there are people who want to help you, just as other helped them. Louis, a 79 year old AA member reciprocates his AA experience by “try[ing] to help the younger people find sobriety and happiness the way I have. I tell them, “If I can do it, so can you” (AA pamphlet). This is just one of many stories AA members have to offer an observer.

I went to an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting on November 26, 2016 at noon in Simi Valley, CA. It was in the back entrance of a strip mall in a long, thin room with tables down the middle and chairs around the table and around the walls in the room. It is only located four minutes from my house, but I have never noticed it before. As I walked in there was a little kitchen with coffee and a pecan pie and there were goodies on the table. I them walked into the main room.

For my second substance abuse meeting, I had the opportunity to attend an Alcohol Anonyms (AA) meeting. The AA meeting chosen was located at Crossover Ministry Clinic within Richmond, Virginia on the Southside. Crossover Ministry Clinic is considered a health care ministry that provides health care services to members of the Richmond Metropolitan community that is uninsured. Their mission is to provide health care resources to people in need through the teaching of Jesus Christ. The meeting is called Serenity U and is held on Mondays at 10:00am. This meeting was open discussion and incorporated literature.

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in the basis that alcoholism cannot be healed medically, but spiritually. Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1939 by Bill Wilson, and Dr. Robert Smith (B’s, n.d.). The main goal of Alcoholics Anonymous is recovery from alcoholism, and to fully abstain from consuming alcohol. Several non-stated goals are staying out of jail, fixing a financial situation, or becoming happier (Trizio, 2006). After attending in a meeting for Alcoholics Anonymous, I could tell that there was a much deeper meaning for the word ‘sobriety’ for people who suffer from alcoholism.

From 7:00 to 8:00 P.M. on Saturday, April 4, 2015, I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous group meeting at St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It was the Area 75 Conference of the “Friends of Bill Group”. It was a truly sobering and enlightening experience and it made me appreciate my own life much more. This is especially true after a talk I had with a member of the group who asked to remain anonymous, suffice it to say that his story was a very tragic one. I would like to report on my general reaction and afterthoughts to the meeting, but I think it would appropriate to recount the member’s story first.

They all seems to pay attention to spoken person except one of them that did not turn his cellphone off and he was texting during the meeting. The group that was participating in the AA meeting was composed by different levels of education and socioeconomic status. At the meeting where one dentist son of two medical doctors. The rest were coming from a low income background. They did not participate in any other activity other than telling their story. They did show respect and empathy for each other. We all notice that there is not any counselors in the facilities that could possible backup any emotional

What I found most enlightening about this experience was that what I thought of the meeting was completely different from what it actually is. It was amazing to be in a space where the group members are pouring their hearts out about their experience but also lifting up the ones who are struggling. Despite how different they all are there goal for being in that space was the same, which was to create a supportive environment.

But the room resembled a church in that instead of a symbol of Christ, like a cross, there was a large desk with the insignia AA hanging from the ceiling and a huge triangle affixed to the front of the desk. There were twelve step books on the black chairs, which reminded me of how bibles are in the pews of churches. There was an agenda of sorts, or announcements, just as they would have in a church. They also took up an offering just as they do in church. There were readings from the twelve step book, and there was a group leader sitting at the desk that guided the meeting just as a pastor would do. There was even mention of God and higher power, but there was one major difference, although they mentioned God, there was no power of God in the meeting. As the attendees began to share their thoughts the first expression was “Hi, I’m Joe and I’m an alcoholic”, this is a contradiction. In my mind it is self-defeating to say you are something you are so desperately trying not to be. It also is denying the power they possess at the same time because the Bible tells us in Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof”, so if you truly believe you have conquered the addiction it is inconsistent to say I’m an alcoholic. On the other hand, maybe they are saying they haven’t conquered the addiction and they are always one foot into their addiction. Furthermore, I don’t see this as tapping into a higher power because there is no progression if your state of mind is always saying you will always be an alcoholic. Why not say I will overcome my addiction, and I’m a former alcoholic? I understand addiction is a disease. And, the first step is admitting you have a problem, but that is the first step not every step should include this. Most of the people there attended several meetings weekly.

The first meeting I attended was an Alcohol Anonymous (AA) meeting located at St. Stephen Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia. I located this meeting using the google search engine. I searched “AA meetings in Richmond Virginia”. I clicked on the link titled “An Interactive Guide to AA Meetings in and around Richmond, VA”. From there, I was able to enter my zip code, how many miles from my location I was willing to travel, the day of the week, the time of the day, and the type of meeting I wished to attend. I chose a Thursday evening meeting with a speaker. I chose this meeting because the day and time fit with my schedule and I chose a speaker meeting because I felt like by choosing a meeting with a