Group Meeting Reflection

After the preamble, the Twelve Steps were recited by an AA member. These steps are basically what the members live by to become and remain sober. The first step is: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable. This step is the hardest because we all live in denial when it comes to admitting our wrongdoings to others. It is even harder when it is something that we like to do.

On October 3rd, I attended a meeting that completely opened my eyes on the issue of substance abuse. The meeting I attended was an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. When thinking about what sort of recovery event I wanted to experience for this experimental activity the first thing that came to mind was Alcoholics Anonymous. I have heard of AA but never had an expanded understanding of the program. The first thing I did was google “Alcoholics Anonymous University of Iowa” and the rest was a breeze. The first link that appeared was a University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics page that listed open AA meetings. So as stated earlier, on Tuesday, October 3rd from 12 pm to 1 pm in Room 5024 Boyd Tower, I gained a whole new outlook on substance abuse. As soon as I walked into the meeting I was a slightly intimidated at first. The room was small, about the size of a classroom, and had a conference table full of people of all ages and different genders. Since I was just observing I decided to sit at a separate table and take notes on the activities that went on during the meeting. There were about 10 participants taking part in the meeting from ages that ranged from 30’s to 70’s. There was plenty of diversity in the group of individuals based on personalities also, but not much diversity in ethnicities as all of the members of this meeting were white. Once the meeting went underway, I knew I was in for something very interesting.

The first speaker at the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting was a woman who had been sober for more than 15 years. She related that when she was younger, and as the daughter of a preacher, there was a lot of pressure in her hometown to prove she was not a 'goody-two shoes'. She relates that her social drinking became pronounced following her divorce at which time she also began taking nerve pills and specifically Xanax that were not prescribed to her. All of this worsened until she had a car wreck one night causing great amount of disfigurement to her face. This woman suffered greatly for many years going through plastic surgeries in an attempt to correct her facial features. This woman discussed the subject of Attitude Modification during the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

On June 26, 2015 we visit alcoholic anonym Hispanic group called “Poco a poco”. The group was composed by 11 males and two females. Their ages were 30 being the youngest one and the rest between 40 to 60 years old that put them in middle adulthood stage. Beside their room there was another group non-Hispanic. We got to the place fifteen minutes early which gave us the opportunity to observe the two different cultural group waiting outside for their section to start. What we notice first was that the non-Hispanic group where composed by 5 males and 4 females all from the middle adulthood stage, they all interact well with each other and they all were smoking cigarettes. The Hispanic group they all salute each other but none was smoking cigarettes. The section of the AA meeting start on time. The first thing they all did was to greet us when we enter the section. They begin their meeting reciting the twelve stages and after that they made a prayer. After the prayer they said their rules of participation and everyone turn off and/or silence their cellphones. Each individual took 30 minutes to talk. They explain the first time they drink, and how they all broke

The professional meeting I attended was in Bower Thompson Student Union, Lenhart Grand Ballroom in Bowling Green State University on November 4th, 2016. The meeting or webinar I attend was from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. The title of the meeting was Meeting the Challenge: Hunger, Food, and Health Initiatives. The speaker of the meeting was Colleen Spees who is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (FAND) and she also has a Philosophæ Doctor degree (PhD).

I remember one week, the theme within the small groups was sharing "our" narratives. My small group consisted of a total of nine female students and our RA. Our discussion lasted about 2 hours that night mainly because our RA established a safe and open environment, she was someone we loved and trusted within a short time of knowing her.

The facilitators would open the meeting by introducing himself as an alcoholic and welcome everyone for attending. He asks for new members and visitors. This is a nice touch as it seems very inviting as it gives that feeling of warmth from the beginning. The facilitator also asks for any out of town visitors and lastly if there are any anniversaries. There were two during my observation, one guy had reached 1 year and one lady had 5 years. Both were given a coin to celebrate their sobriety and a warm celebratory praise from the group. They both were given the opportunity to speak if they chose and they both declined.

This past year taught me about the ups and downs of how to integrate myself into a new staff. As the year began I set up meetings to have with staff members to see what my involvement would be within ministries. I had a mix result with the meetings. I had a great meeting with the pastor, as well as, other administrative staff members. When it came to the co-workers in charge of ministries, the results of the meetings were not as reassuring and I left with confusion, after going in with much excitement. These meetings, in a way, foreshadowed what was to come, in regards to communication and collaboration with the ministry leads at Holy Family.

If I could summarize my group proposal experience in three works it would be patient, organized, and accomplished. My group proposal experience was not that bad. However, I did have to be patient and wait for other members to submit their work. I also had to be patient and see when we could meet because some of my group members did not show up for group meetings. I also felt like the majority of my group was not participating and getting work done. My group was some what organized because we had a checklist of the materials we had to submit and complete. My group was also able to accomplish our binder on time because we had to pull each other's weight. The only good thing I can say about my group is that they are nice

For the Fine Motor Olympics, the Cleveland group went to Valley View Elementary School to a first-grade class. As a group, I do believe that we worked well together. Amy Stinnett arranged the meeting as she used to work at the facility. Ariel McFadden created the power point to show the teacher at the school and to teach the students and faculty at Chattanooga State. Brian, Philip, and I were the presenters of the three various group levels to the children. We all collaborated together to bring the needed materials to both the children and to the college at Chattanooga State. Since the class was a large class, we had sizable groups of children. We turned in permission slips on a Monday, so they return by Friday. The principal gave the group

Group Composition: The group will be made up of both men and women. These include parents who are responsible for the general well-being of their families, spouses, and young people. Membership will be open to anyone who has the desire to stop drinking. Members can be self-referred, current clients or people who have been referred from other sources. The meeting is open to all adults who have identified themselves as alcoholics and want to maintain sobriety.

This reflection paper is an analysis of my experience throughout this group project over the course Univ 1100. The purpose of working in groups is to build characteristics such as teamwork, reliability, trust, leadership & communication skills as well as learning new things based off of one another’s intelligence to prepare you for future jobs and etc. I was assigned to the group with Sydney, Dynasty, Sarena, Jyqueria, and Charlotte. We we’re assigned thee group project towards the beginning of the semester. We had to choose a social issue to write a paper on creating an image for students to understand what our topic was about, how it impacts the world, our feelings about it as a group and the importance of addressing it. For

This spans from not only licensed care providers, but also 12-Step recovery support groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Being in a rural area, the client population within the 2 licensed centers is overwhelmingly White, as well as the practitioners. Gamble and O’Lawrence (2016) cited a study that found there was a strong response to a 12-step-based, group therapy approach, in 76% of participants, however the study could not be generalized due to the homogeneity of the population (overwhelmingly White). Clark (2014) found the impact of narrative group therapy techniques, such as narrative novels, to have beneficial effects on clients. However, and which is often the case in my current geographic location, the group only includes one individual from a marginalized group, it may be difficult for the individual to find commonality from a differing worldview. While this approach may benefit some of the individuals who are similar, it may cause this individual to only feel further marginalized. Another challenge to group therapy is policy, group norms, and gray areas. Van Wormer and Davis (2018) discussed the idea of harm reduction groups, and the idea of letting individuals who are under the influence stay. This is a real gray area; on one hand, the individual is better served in the group and in a safe place. On the other

Partaking in group counseling is imperative because it allows members to work on personal development and receive feedback in a supportive and safe environment. Consequently, participating in group counseling class has given me the opportunity to learn more about myself, and allowed me to become comfortable disclosing my thoughts and private information, something I usually do not share with strangers. This group class was stimulating and helped me work on my personal growth. Our group consisted of 10 diverse members, including myself. My group members were, Dr. Uellendahl, the facilitator for the first half of group class, Sergio, Angine, Rosa, Anabel, Veronica, Roy, Andrew, and Mathew. Meetings were held every Wednesday, on the CLU main

I thought I did a great job participating in the group discussion. Every question that Grace asked, I could discuss with the group members. When it was not my turn to talk, I would make eye-contact with whomever was talking. This discussion had some personal questions; therefore, I thought I did a great job showing empathy towards my group members. For instance, Emma was sharing something personal about herself and she started to cry. Not only did I make eye-contact with Emma, but I also expressed empathy towards her because I could tell she was struggling to talk.