Self-Help Meetings: Therapeutic Alliance

I chose to visit an Alcoholics Anonymous group for my Understanding Group Dynamics project. I went on March 20th 2016, to an open discussion group titled Pass it On Group for Beginners that are Living Sober. It was held at the First Congregational Church at 14 Brookside Road in Darien, CT 06854 at 6:15 p.m.. I chose to go to this group as I felt it was a group that I could most strongly connect to, as I am a recovering alcoholic. I have been cold turkey for two years now. I choose to live a sober life as the hangovers, pain that myself and loved ones endured and the constant need to escape from reality was taking over my existence. Going to this group reminded me that I am not alone in this journey of recovery and in the journey of figuring out how to live life sober with my friends, family and strangers drinking around me. The group was friendly and one that when you first enter, they make sure that you are there for the right reasons as confidentiality is important. Then right after, they welcome you with open arms and if you choose to just sit and listen that is fine, but I am a vocal person and I spoke and applauded. I am glad that we got to do this assignment, for I think without I would have never gone to an AA group meeting. I would have kept on my journey by myself and just praying when times got hard, now I have people I can reach out to.

The group prayed after reviewing the guidelines. Then, a participant of the group proceeded to read the “how it works” from the AA book. Afterwards, another member read the 12 traditions. Two participants shared their experience with Alcoholism while others provided reflections and support. The facilitator informed me that each meeting two participants share. After the two participants shared, the AA meeting ended with another prayer. This paper will talk about my observations and reactions attending the AA meeting, and how attending the meeting will inform my future work as a clinician. The purpose of this paper is to present my personal experience of an AA meeting, and how I plan to grow as a therapist from that

One commonly known self-help group is Alcoholic Anonymous. Alcoholics Anonymous is also known as AA. Alcoholic Anonymous is formed for the purpose of the treatment of alcoholism. Alcoholics Anonymous generally takes place in a church or school in the community. Alcoholics Anonymous is not the only type of self-help group. Self-help groups can be based on anger, anxiety, depression, marriage improvement, hoarding, shopping addiction, weight loss, sex addiction, self-harm, eating disorder, grief processing, etc.

Attending an AA meeting was intimidating at first, but it was one of the most moving and enlightening experiences of my life. I attended a meeting called the “Nooners Group” at the Serenity Club in Alexandria. The group had six men and one woman in attendance. The members were mostly white and were about 40 years or older. The group seemed to be in a middle or lower socio-economic level. The meeting started with several short readings. I was invited to read the AA preamble. Then, the group leader suggested reading a story from the ‘big blue book.” The story focused on a woman’s denial of her addiction and eventual acceptance of her alcoholism. After the reading, almost every person spoke about their own addiction and how it related to the story of the woman. After the time of sharing, the group held hands, said the AA chants, and recited the Lord’s Prayer. Afterwards, some group members lingered to interact and chat. I was so moved by the power of the meeting. At times, it felt very serious and emotional, but there were moments of levity, where the group would laugh or nod in agreement. Overall, the meeting was emotional, inspirational, and healing.

Group therapy has evolved so much that the participant are learning how to help themselves and others. Self-help groups are one of the most popular forms of group therapy. One of the most known self-help groups is Alcoholics Anonymous also known as A.A. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international organization produced to assist alcoholics to recover and live alcohol free lives. It was founded by Bill Wilson and Robert Holbrook Smith in 1935. It is a program, complete with twelve steps and twelve traditions, that was put together to help addicts

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.

As a mentioned before I came away from the AA meeting with a feeling, of great sadness and warmth. I felt welcomed and excepted, but at the same time I still cannot

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 ().

There are several different kinds of psychoeducational groups for addictions: Alcoholics Anonymous, Smart Recovery, Nar-Anon, and so many more. Although those these groups may focus on different types of addiction one thing they all had in common to decide how the group was to be formed. Each one group has their own unique why on how it is ran, but according to to Hepworth, Rooney, Dewberry-Rooney, and Strom-Gottfried success of a group rests largely on the thoughtful creation

Alcoholics Anonymous can help individuals struggling with substance abuse. Low self-esteem in a person has been implicated in the development of alcohol use disorder, and relapse (Donovan, Ingalsbe, Benbow, & Daley, 2013). In this report, I will discuss her experience of visiting an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting at Buckeye Easy Does It (BEDI). I will also present the topic of the meeting, her reaction to the topic, how 12-step can help. The barriers one might experience at the meeting, psychological and emotional impact, and how low self-esteem can affect an individual attending their first AA meeting.

For people that abuse alcohol, there is a group meeting called alcoholics anonymous, which is a twelve-step program to support and help alcoholics everywhere. The location I attended was the AA meeting on 202 W. Broadway, Anaheim. The group session that I attended called their meeting “happy hour.” What I gathered to be the purpose of this organization is to help people with drinking problems or people with past drinking problems help cope with one another and recover in a safe environment without judgment. According to OC-AA, it is an association to “share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. Their primary purpose is to stay sober and help

Experiencing an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting was something quite unlike any of my previous experiences. Before I had entered the small room packed with people from wall to wall, my thoughts were soaring. They drifted from “this is most likely going to be extremely scary” to “how am I supposed to face these people who are suffering so badly, as if it’s no big deal.” I expected the stereotypical scene: small gathered circle, people crying, a table of pastries to the side of the room, and most importantly an extremely tense atmosphere. I expected the people in this meeting to look down at me, as I looked so much younger than they were. I projected the room to be filled with a sadness and intensity like no other. Before entering, I felt nervous, scared, and also excited for what I was about to encounter. Most of my expectations, however, did not occur.

There were also some similarities between the AA and OA support groups. Both groups gave members the opportunity to share whatever they needed to share. This writer feels giving the members this opportunity helps them feel connected with their group and that they are not in this journey to recovery alone. The sharing of experiences helps the person telling the story and the people listening. Alcoholics Anonymous emphasizes that helping one another can help with recovery (Polcin & Zemore, 2004). This writer also feels by sharing, members give each other hope and

There are millions of people who have and who are suffering from alcoholism. For those seeking help with their addiction, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) may be the right for them. While this program is not promised to be a cure, and the authors of this program does not promise full recovery, it provides an atmosphere where members can be honest about their dependency on alcohol. Furthermore, AA provides support from other alcoholics, and rewards for meeting certain sobriety anniversary dates. This paper explores the history and major developments of AA. Furthermore, this paper explains the structure of meetings, and the roles the leader and members play during meetings. This paper also touches on AA’s definition of success and how it handles members who relapse. Additionally, this paper explains this student’s experiences of two AA meetings she attended, which include what she learned from attending the meetings, and what she learned from the people she met at the meetings.

When I first signed up for the AA meeting I had my own thoughts about what it would be like, but I was in for a big shocker. I signed up for an AA meeting at 2749 E Diana @ S Rio Vista off of E Lincoln on Tuesday at 7:00 pm. It was a women only meeting because I thought it would be more comfortable for me to attend. This was what I had imagined in my head that it would be like, I would come into a big building with tons of rooms that had separate meetings going on with different speakers. Keeping the same people together for each meeting and at the meeting there would be papers to sign after coming in. The papers could be a small survey of how I was feeling that week or if there was anything I wanted to share that I didn’t want to say in