Go To Closed Meetings

I decided to attend a meeting based first (and almost solely) on convenience of the location. So I decided to attend a meeting right here in Batavia. The “Batavia 12 & 12” at the Holy Trinity Church down on 6th & Wood St. They hold meeting on Mondays around 11:00am. The main focus is to follow the 12 steps in order and work on them in a more traditional fashion. They do have the big book, but follow it more in a step by step focus. However karma decided to rear its head and make it a Closed Meeting, meaning that it is not as open to the public to sit on and they only allow members who are coming with a problem related to alcohol. So at first I was turned away but, I was lucky enough to know a person

We began the meeting by introducing those who are new to AA or those who were visiting from a different group. If a person did not want to introduce themselves, they were not made to do so. The meetings were very calm and were conducted in an orderly fashion. In a support group, the leader should create a safe environment where members can share (Jacobs et al., 2012 p. 43). I felt very comfortable being there and even though I was there as an observer, the group leader always encouraged me to ask questions or comments. Regardless of the topics that were discussed, no one was judgmental. I believe the positive energy I felt while in the group was because everyone truly cared about each other’s sobriety.

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

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

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.

The participants were looking for help, which it created some confusing thoughts; I thought AA meetings were mandatory for all participants. It also made me realize with all the brief stories how alcohol is an enormous concern in our society, however our society has normalized those concern and convert the negative impact of alcohol into something positive. It drive me to think that 12 steps program work, and it should be part of a treatment. After, the meetings that I attended; I feel the 12-step program will work if professionals in the Human Services area introduce the program on a positive manner. It may be challenging because of the religious portion for some cases, however this may introduce the participant’s new ways to cope with the struggle of alcoholism. At the same time, the main benefits for the client will be abstinence and support. The abstinence is a continuous process and through the meetings clients will be able to keep the abstinence from alcohol or other drugs. Conclusively, there was an environment of hope in the meeting. During, the meeting one of the participants was a new member. He described how alcohol destroyed his family and he is trying to get his family back, however his wife does not want to come back with him and a divorce petition was completed. This particular participant found in the 12 step meeting comfort and support from his peers. Besides, the comfort the participant

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.

This meeting was broken up into two different sections. First part was story telling. A guy told personal stories of his struggles with alcohol use and abuse from his past in addition to his struggles to remain sober. This part took about 30 minutes. The second part was open dialogue which took about an hour. Nobody was instructing us to do this or that in this section. It was a dialogue which communicating, saying, sitting there, and listening to somebody telling their personal stories. It allowed everyone to talk about their struggles, as well as encourage one another. Before each person started telling his or her stories, that person had to announce his/her name and that his/her were an alcoholic or addict. After the person finished

The AA recovery meeting I attended was at Club Soda. The meeting was open to any who wanted to join, male or female, and provided general discussion as well as discussions and readings about the big book and 12-steps. The members of the group began the meeting by turning in their log sheets for the group chairperson. The chairperson selected another member to help facilitate the meeting and they both introduced themselves as alcoholics and the chairperson discussed the rules of the group. One of the rules stated was that those who had consumed alcohol in the last 24 hours were asked to only listen during the meeting.

I chose to attend the Alcoholic Anonymous meeting at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church on the north side of Chicago. I chose to visit a church because I wanted to see if there was a religious aspect thrown into the session. The name of the session was called Big Book Stop Study. This session occurs every Monday at 7:00pm, as an open meeting. The meeting lasted for an hour. The session was led by three members, Kyle, Tamara, and Melissa. There was fourteen participants within the group. I was very apprehensive about attending a meeting because I didn’t want to be seen as an alcoholic. For that very reason, I understand how hard it may be for some to admit to their alcoholism, due to the negative connotation that comes with the name. To some, that may seem like a short span of time. However, upon visiting this particular session I saw progression in each participant. I was very pleased with what I witnessed as a visitor.

Alcoholics Anonymous is one of the most widely known and used 12 step groups, it was found in 1935 by two men who wanted to share and support those who wanted to become sober. Currently I am in California so I had to search for a meeting here and I was able to find a 12 step meeting at a local church that took place in the morning. My thoughts before the meeting were interested as well as nervous. I never went to one of these meetings nor do I know what one is about. Im not to sure what AA entails so I was interested in learning about it. Currently my boyfriends father is a recovering alcoholic so going to this made me think of him and I believe may help me understand him, his thought, and his feelings a little better. Before the meeting I began to read that AA does not discriminate including to those with other addictions, but closed meetings are specifically for those battling addicting to alcohol (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2012).

AA has no specific leader, it is ran by a peer who is also an alcoholic just like everyone else in the room. The “leader” at the beginning read the steps to opening the meeting and opening the floor for discussion. Other than that, everyone in the room was very involved, for example, peers read certain things such as the 12 steps, how AA works and they all prayed together. Before the floor opened for discussion they read a story on step 4 of the 12 steps and everyone basically based their stories off their 4-step experience. I thought it would be expected that all the attendees would give their full attention to those talking, but I experienced differently. Although, no one was on their phones, there was side talks and one attendee was coloring during the meeting. Attendees job is to not judge others since they have all typically been in the same situation even if they got to AA differently. I did not hear anything about relapses, but at the end of the meeting they did this chip thing where they called out certain days sober and for those who got a chip for a day or wanting to quit drinking everyone clapped and they hugged one another. I believe, this is a sign of support and they want to be there for one another and help those “newcomers” reach sobriety like they did. To close the meeting they all stood up, held hands a did a prayer together, because God is above them all and help them through

I have attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in the past; I would attend the meetings with family or friends as their support. My earliest experience was around the age of thirteen when I attended the meeting in support of my father. To this day, I don’t forget the story the speaker told us. I listened to a man who spoke of the suffering alcohol and drugs caused his family. He told us about the day he died alone at home with his two young children. The oldest child was seven years old and was able to call for assistance. The story left me in tears, understanding how his children must feel with the death of their father an everyday threat. Walking into the AA meeting for my assignment, I never expected to feel nervous. One thing that I didn’t account for was the fact that this time I would be alone. The fear that I felt wasn’t of the people that were going to be there, it was more the fear of being an outsider. I couldn’t just state that I was there to support a loved one. I didn’t expect that I would feel as though I wouldn’t be welcomed. However, as I walked into the dated brick building, I was immediately greeted with kindness and my nerves were put at ease.