Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting Reflection

The third chapter of the Alcoholics Anonymous book develops the idea of what alcoholism involves and how people with alcoholism differ from normal people. This chapter elaborates on the idea that there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic, meaning an alcoholic will never be able to have a few drinks and then stop. It is also believed within the alcoholics’ anonymous community that at in the early stages of their drinking careers, they could have stopped drinking. The first step in recovery is to acknowledge that there is a problem, the book describes different ways a person can be an alcoholic. Not every alcoholic is going to drink a long time nor take large quantities, but the inability to stop makes the alcoholic. The chapter explains how an alcoholic is still unable to stop on the basis of self-knowledge and will power. In order to protect against taking that first drink again, there must be a higher power. Chapter three outlines that there is more than one option of what

tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” Attending the

Overall the meeting was what I expected, on the part of how they discussed God and his involvement of the Steps, and the general behavior of most of the group, as I have come to understand it at least. However, I think from this experience I have gained a crucial piece of information that, although I was aware of it, had no real first hand understanding of it; People fear judgment from those who are designed to judge them. A simple statement, and in many respects obvious but, what I mean is that people tend to fear judgment from those who should not judge them, and expect criticism and judgment rom those who are meant to. Anyone who has succumbed to alcoholism or drug use, knows what to expect from their immediate peers, but I was not expecting how much they would, or in the case of the gentleman I encountered, fear someone who is making a career of judging them. This experience has helped me better

Jacobs, E. E., Masson, R. L., Harvill, R. L., & Schimmel, C. J. (2012). Group counseling: Strategies and skills (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

5. Corrective recapitulation of primary family group - experiencing transference relationships growing out of primary family experiences providing the opportunity to relearn and clarify distortions. Members learned that they could resolve issues from the past

The first member stated that the meetings are what keep him going. When he runs into a problem he prays to God, who is his higher power. He says that when he prays and

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

When I arrived, I was a little surprised at the demographics of the two hundred people that were in attendance. I had previously attended a Celebrate Recovery meeting a few years prior and the only demography I encountered were those who seemed like they “needed to be there.” However, I was pleasantly surprised to meet the individuals at this meeting as the people seemed like average everyday people. I felt like I belonged, and as though my struggles matter because all those in attendance were seeking after that new life, set free in Christ. There were people from all over, all different struggles and situations that it made the

I did not wish to interrupt the natural flow of the meeting with my presence. However, that is exactly what occurred highlighting to me a duality in why AA can be both helpful and harmful depending ton the individual. One member spoke during the open testimony about his desire to only attend meetings with people that have 20 plus years of sobriety because he finds a newcomer to be distrustful to his experience in the group. During his five-minute monologue, it became clear to myself and other group members that he did not appreciate me observing his meeting. As other members spoke after him, he became increasingly agitated in his movements. When the group paused to collect the donations, he left the meeting and did not return. That experience highlighted the negative aspects of AA because the open honesty could be damaging or discouraging to newcomers. I tried to imagine myself a newcomer to AA, seeking treatment for something that I may not fully understand myself. After hearing his dismissal of newcomers and everyone under 20 years sobriety that feeling of “otherness” in a newcomer could push them to not return. Therefore eliminating the AA support for

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.

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 had an interesting experience going to an Addiction Recovery Meeting supported by the church. One of my best friends has had a pornography addiction since she was a young teenager, and she invited me to go to one of her meetings with her. I expected there to be a large meeting of people, and that nobody would really know I attended. However, it was only a few females (7) and then an older sister missionary to guide the program of the meeting. They instantly recognized that I had not been to previous meetings, as this small group of women had become comfortable with each other.

Recently I had the unique opportunity of attending three support group meetings. I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and a Nar Anon meeting. Two of the meetings were open and one was closed. Please note that an open meeting is a meeting where the general public is allowed to attend and a closed meeting is designated for a specific group of people. This paper will explore my feelings and experiences during this experience.

First, I would support someone and encourage them to look beyond the surroundings of those meetings by explaining to them the nature of those meetings; they are founded for the ones who have a desire to stop drinking. It is free of charge and there is no prior assessment. It is a place to share stories and support one another. Therefore, it could be a good place to overcome social isolation and loneliness that my service user might be having, and, thus, having a peer support that they might be looking for. I would also explain that the meetings are welcoming of all regardless of age, religion, or social location (though some meetings could have specific regulations or criteria). The fact that these meetings are held in churches’ basements has nothing to do with one’s religion; you do not even have to believe in God to attend. Meetings could be held in other places like rehab centers or community centers. So if a client is not welcoming the idea of going to a church, based on his religious belief, he could go to another place. It is just a location to surf a purpose. In addition, I would tell my service users what to expect and not to expect. It could work for them or not. They do not have to attend if they feel it is not working. I could also help by finding someone from the AA meeting to accompany my client. I would, moreover, tell my client to try more than one place and go to the one they find most comfortable.