Questions On Alcohol Anonymous Meetings

I might be different than some people in this class, I’ve had already had some experience with AA meetings and NA meetings albeit as a young child. I had a parent who would attend them from time to time and my sister and I would attend. While this was many years ago, the setting was still the same to me as it was then.

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).

For the support group observation assignment, I attended the Gateway Group’s Alcoholic Anonymous (A.A.) meeting. The Gateway Group is part of a larger organization called the Tri-County Intergroup Association of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Tri-County Intergroup serves A.A. members in Franklin, Wake, and Warren Counties and is broken down into 113 separate groups. As the preamble states, the purpose of all A.A. group meetings are for A.A. members to share their experience strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. There are no dues or fees for being an A.A. member, and the only requirement for membership is to have a desire to stop drinking ().

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

I went to a traditional 12 step AA meeting. It was a long timers group, which had individuals who have been attending AA for a while now and those who have been sober for at least 10 years or more. It was at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, located in Johnstown, Pa. The meeting was from 7:30pm to 8:30pm. They started off the meeting by reading the preamble. The preamble, which was found and quoted from the District 41- Alcoholics Anonymous, Johnstown, Pa website (2015), “Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.” After the preamble they had one of the attendees of the group read the 12 steps.

My first experience at an alcoholics anonymous meeting was very interesting and in a way uplifting. At All Saints Lutheran Church the home group called “The Young People’s Group” there were people who had come from all walks of life. The group meeting that I thought would have been rather small slowly became larger and larger over the course of the night. I was unaware that the AA meetings had been setup with a set of codes or rules for those who struggle every day to fight this addiction. They allowed people who were new or if it was their first meeting to introduce themselves and tell their story to the fight of addiction related to alcohol. I was really impressed with the fact that the AA groups have an awards system for reaching

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.

I went to Alcoholic Anonymous opening meeting because I am interested in learning more about this program and alcoholism itself. Also, some of my family members are highly addicted to alcohol, and they have to drink at least half a gallon per day. I have no idea how to stop them from drinking alcohol excessively, so I hope that I am able to learn something from this meeting that I can share with them and probably advise them to lower the amount of their alcohol consumption every day. Based on what I learned from the meeting, Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) self-help meeting is a program for alcoholics who are desire to stop drinking.

The Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, otherwise simply known as the “Golden Key Group AA meeting,” that I attended was held on Saturday, November 8th, in Whittier, California, at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran church. To be more exact, it was held in a classroom located at the back of the church property, far from the twinkling, multicolored lights of the chapel in the front. The classroom was overfilled, with many people standing outside, leaning their heads in to listen. Chairs were offered to women and those who were ill, and one woman cradled her infant daughter, walking back and forth down the external hall.

Addictions is something that many people in the community face. Being able to have a support group in the community can help in the recovery process. This writer was able to attend two different support groups for different addictions. The first group this writer attended was an Alcohol Anonymous support group (AA). The second group attended was Over Eaters Anonymous support group (OA). It took this writer three tries before a meeting was found. When this writer looked online for a meeting, the first location visited, a gentleman stated there has not been an AA meeting held there in eight years. Another gentleman at the second location stated it has been five years since it was a meeting location; when it held meetings, it was for Hispanic

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.

In order to understand AA fully, one needs to first examine its history. Before AA, alcoholics and addicts were treated very harshly. Alcoholics were viewed as morally deficient and lacked the willpower to just stop drinking. When asked by an alcoholic whether there would be any hope of his recovery, the psychiatrist Carl Jung responded “No, there is none – except that some people with your problem have recovered if they have had a transforming experience of the spirit” (Bob P. 1993). Jung was saying that alcoholics are hopeless unless they have a spiritual experience, which he went on to say happened very, very rarely. Thus, alcoholics and addicts were thrown into jails and sanitariums, and were left

Alcoholism is as prevalent in my family, as blood is in our veins. When previously asked to observe 12-step groups, I ritualistically flocked to Alcoholics Anonymous, without consideration of the possibility that other groups had any potential to make an impact on me. I always pride myself in my ability to identify as an individual that is not ensnared in alcoholism, but unfortunately am an individual that was highly tormented by alcoholism. Through observation of the group and how it processed, as well as identifying how I felt as a new attendee, I was able to understand why self-help, support groups are so vital for individuals in recovery. I finally realized, I too am in recovery.

In conclusion, I feel A.A. has saved many lives. It offers strength, hope, and support to those struggling with alcoholism. I felt one hour just was not long enough. I wanted to stay longer and help those in need. The meeting seemed to put me back in touch with reality and had touched my heart. I felt so many different emotions and feelings at this meeting. At one point I became teary-eyed as a young girl spoke of what she had been through.