The Importance Of A Counseling Student Studying Chemical Dependency

Programs that aid in the recovery of family members of addicts are also very different from those that help with domestic violence. The 12-step program worked by family members in Al-Anon is almost identical to those worked by alcoholics in AA, including acknowledging the fact that they are “powerless over alcohol,” placing a reliance on a higher power to “restore [them] to sanity,” (Al-Anon, 2008; p.44). This approach can make a person who has been abused feel even less in control of their life. This idea also serves to further reinforce the excuse of substance use that might be made by their abuser.

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

The final two steps of Alcoholics Anonymous involve “taking inventory” of your life and understanding why you did what you did when drunk. These are called the drinker’s motivations. Step 12 talks about three major parts the alcoholic should have accomplished. They are having had a spiritual awakening, practicing the lessons learned in Alcoholics Anonymous, and carrying the message of recovery to other alcoholics. The final step seems like a lifetime step. It is practiced by the drinker, along with the other steps for the rest of their life. It stresses the amount of work they must put in for the program to work for them.

Everything that was recited aloud was done by a different member of the group. The Twelve Traditions, The Promises of the Big Book of AA, the Thoughts of the Day, Meditations, and the Daily Reflections followed. After a member read or spoke, they were thanked by the other members in unison.

The leader of the group, began the meeting with a welcome and an introduction of the visitors. Visitors introduced themselves first and then the entire group individually introduced themselves by stating, “hello, I am (first name) and I am an alcoholic.” The group would respond back, “hello, (first name).” After introductions, the leader made announcements and passed around a calendar and black binder for people to submit any additional announcements. Other members of the group then read the Twelve Traditions and the Twelve Steps (See Appendix). Next, the Gateway Group had a short intermission, so that the group could be split into two smaller groups, to allow more people to speak. As we recommenced, the leader asked if anyone had anything to get off their chest, if they felt like they needed a drink, or if they had taken a drink. There was no response, so the leader continued with the lesson.

For this assignment, I observed an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting held at The Meeting Place on Wednesday, September 28, 2016. There were 15 members in attendance, 12 men and 3 women not counting myself. The group leaders were both women and sat at the front of the room. For confidentiality of the group member names will not be included. The meeting began with the group leaders reminding the attendees of the rules of AA and the process of the meeting. Several of the attendees read the declaration of AA and the documents associated with the meeting structure. After the introduction, several of the members gave their testimony regarding their own experience with drinking. Following the short declarations, a passage of the big book was

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.

Alcoholics anonymous was founded in 1935 by a stock broker, Bill Wilson, and a surgeon, Robert Smith. Wilson being a recovering alcoholic had originally attended the Oxford Group, which was a Christian fellowship that based their teachings that all people are sinners and all sinners can be changed. While Wilson later credited the Oxford Group for saving his life, he separated from them, and in his desperation to recover from his own alcoholism he decided to form a group where alcoholics could get together and share their stories and help achieve and maintain sobriety with each other. (Branscum & Sharma, 2010) This group became Alcoholics Anonymous. “The book, Alcoholics Anonymous, was written by Bill Wilson, Dr. Robert Smith, and the founders of AA, with contributions from over 100 recovering alcoholics.” (Inaba & Cohen, 2014, p.9.28) Today, there are over 97,000 AA groups with over 1.7 million members that attend yearly. (Knack, 2009, p.86)

This paper will try to explain the different views of how and why Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs are accepted and rejected as effective tools in treating alcoholism and other addictions. The articles reviewed contradict the others’ opinion. First, we see that supporting the 12-step programs with a degree of involvement both the doctor and patient will see better results in treating the addiction. The second view will show that 12-step programs can be used as “self-help” treatment and must be used in conjunction with other forms of rehabilitation. When AA and other 12-step programs are not used with other forms of treatment, the patient tends to become codependent on the group.

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.

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

My grandfather was an alcoholic. He drank from the moment he rose out of bed until he passed out in the evening. He battled with this disease for many years. Drinking alcohol was like breathing air, it was his daily routine until the day he passed away.. Alcoholism took his life at the age of 65. I loved my grandfather; he was a very caring and loving man. In fact, at one point he was an electrical engineer, he lost his job when alcohol took command of his every waking moment. I chose to attend an Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) meeting, because I wanted to gain an understanding of the program, in hopes to increase my understanding of the struggles my grandfather went through. This would be my first AA meeting. This particular AA group is called, The Spring Forest Recovery Group, they meet every Sunday at 7:00 pm. It is located at 4015 Spring Forest Road, Raleigh, North Carolina. Every 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays they have their speaker meeting. Every 2nd & 4th Sunday they have their big book study. This past Sunday was their big book study. Everyone had his or her blue books, titled Alcoholics Anonymous. I walked in sat down and listened carefully as the 12-steps to recovery were being read out loud. The room was still except for the words that bounced and echoed throughout the room. The room is set cafeteria style, 8-foot tables and white chairs filled the room with rows of 4. Group is a mix of multicultural members, with a common problem or

As being a family support attendee for my stepfather, the Narcotics Anonymous (NA) support group, this group main focus is to stay clean from drugs. The members of NA learn and expressed ways on coping, to staying away from drugs, and live a drug-free life with the help of their 12 Step Program. When present at the meeting, the support group was on Step Seven, reading about asking God to remove their shortcomings. Even though the support group is near the end of reading and using the 12 Step Program as part of their lives, an individual wanting to go into recovery is an attempt in making a change. However, the goal is to stay clean and away from drug to keep from having a relapse to alcohol and substance use. An onset to alcohol and substance

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.

The meeting began with a prayer and a reading of the twelve steps, which I did, and preceded into a 25-minute meditation session. Following the meditation session, the floor was opened up for persons to reflect on their meditation. It was quiet for sometime, but eventually persons began to talk. Each person that spoke introduced himself or herself as, “Hi I am XXXX and I am an alcoholic” in which the rest of us responded with a hello. The discussion each person brought to the circle often revolved around what they had been experiencing in the last week, and ended with a positive-spin that reflected back on their journey with sobriety. One gentleman talked about his spring break on Orca Island with his kids, another discussed a speaker he was arranging to have visit Spokane, and another woman talked about an “essay reading party” she went to in which wine was being drank by the majority of participants. The meeting ended with the serenity prayer, something the girls at Daybreak say before lunch, and simple discussion between some of the participants. During this time I talked with the woman who had told me where to find the AA meeting. She talked with me about the need to find the proper AA meeting for myself, encouraging me to explore multiple