Aa Meeting Reflection

The community group I visited was Beaches Unity Group, which was located at 322 Penman Road. This was an Alcoholics Anonymous group that provided open discussion for people who were both struggling with alcohol abuse, as well as addiction. It gave the participants an opportunity to introduce themselves, and tell their background story. There where also opportunities to offer advice to the other members. I decided to sit in an AA group because there is history of alcoholism in my family, and so I was curious to hear the stories of other people, and how they are coping with their disorder. I chose this particular group because it was an open meeting and they welcomed anyone. The man running the group, was a member himself, and was very welcoming.

I imagined they would be more similar to what you see on TV and they were quite different to witness in person. On T.V they always portray Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as a major downer and they cast it in a darker light with a much more serious vibe. I always thought of Alcoholics Anonymous as a good place and I have always thought of it in a good light based on how my mother described it. I was happy to see that my feelings towards the meetings were correct. I was surprised how upbeat the meeting was.

In my experience of observing Alcoholics Anonymous group, it was a great experience. In my experience, I notice a lot of things in the Alcoholic Anonymous group. The first thing I notice while observing the group session is they have Alcoholics Anonymous bible that read a section every session. They read the same passage that discuss that how important it is to keep all information that is said in the group confidential. They were vey clear with that information.

Alcoholism is a chronic brain disease that affects all walks of life and does not have any bounders (Gossop, Stewart, & Marsden, 2008). I choose to attend an Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) meeting since this disease is prevalent among adolescents and adults. The meeting was held in the first-floor forum at Pilgrim Congressional Church in Queens New York. The goals of the AA meeting were stated explicitly by the leader conducting the meeting. The mission of the organization is to maintain sobriety by helping alcoholics achieve recovery.

On Wednesday April 6th at 8:00pm, I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at the Salem United Church of Christ located on Marietta Avenue (2312 Marietta Avenue, Lancaster pa). I intentionally arrived a few minutes early in order to find a seat with my friend while we waited for the meeting to begin. The meeting took place in a large multipurpose room with circle tables available to sit at. Refreshments were offered to all who attended supplied by one of the group members.

As assigned by Professor Fuller I attend an Alcoholics anonymous meeting Saturday evening at the Hibbs building. I was terrified because I attend alone, but I knew if I read the script she prepared for us I would be fine. Arriving at the meeting I was surprised to see so many young faces, and immediately inspired by these Millennials ability to identify their issues and make active changes toward a productive lifestyle. I could tell a few of the attendees were returning members, but to my relief this group truly attained new members that would take the pressure off of me. As the meeting progressed, in the same fashion shown on television shows, members introduced themselves and began to share.

I attended an alcoholic anonymous group session twice to observe and write a PowerPoint presentation for my class during my undergrad time. It was large group consist of about 50 people. The leader of the group was able to set a positive tone. He started the session with prayer, and then explained how everybody can benefit from sharing each other experiences especially to new members. The leader was firmed and able to show concern and understanding.

People were smiling as they announced their accomplishments. There were some sad moments when someone would share how they got addicted or the bad things that happened in their life because of alcohol. The majority of the time, though, was very positive. This meeting was also more of a support group than a religious group. Although I do not have any sort of addiction, I believe that if I did, a twelve step program would be effective.

I’ll be honest, I was a bit skeptical of going to this meeting. I was nervous, anxious, and worried what they might think or ask. At the same time though, I was also excited. I was excited because I wanted to learn more about Alcohol Anonymous. Walking into a church where I knew no one and knew what these people struggle with was a bit eye opening.

I have never been to an AA meeting before, and I had a completely different imagination of how a meeting takes place. I thought the meeting was held in a depressing state, dark, and everyone is sad/drunk. However, my experience was exactly the opposite of what I imagined. Even though this was the first AA meeting that I have attended, I feel like I have been attending AA all my life. The members are friendly, supportive, and not shy to express their proudness of being part of AA.

The meeting might help him quit drinking. Bruce went in the AA meeting. However, after the meeting the some member he knew offers him to go out and drink. It was an ineffective meeting. He is trying to avoid them, but sometimes he wants to go because there is no one to hang out, except for my husband.

If a members were to see each other outside of the sessions they are not to acknowledge one another. When I questioned this I was told it is for the safety of all involved. Members have been hospitalize and even killed when alcoholic loved ones found out they were attending. Al-Anon, according to Yalom’s Curative Factors of Group Treatment, is Imparting of information. Meaning: Al-Anon empowers people.

As previously mentioned above, Narcotics Anonymous is a support group where individuals who are addicted to drug using can go into recovery with the help of others to cleanse themselves mentally, physically, and emotionally from drugs. The support group accepts individuals who are looking to stop their use of any illegal drugs, substance use, and alcohol consumption. An individual(s) with a problem with alcohol and substance use is viewed as an illness, based on the severity of use, and its affects it does to an individual. Alcohol and substance use can start at any age from adolescent to older adult age. An onset of alcohol and substance use can be known when/if there is an indication of it from an individual’s family history, and/or family

The type of group that I observed was an Alcohol Anonymous group, which is also known as a self-help group. A self help group can be defined as, “A formed group, which may or may not be professionally led, composed of persons who share a common life situation.” (Hutchison, 2015, p. 565). The purpose of this group was for them to come together every week and talk about their mutual problems. In the group I specifically observed were mostly individuals who were addicted to alcohol, but also had an addiction to certain drugs.

It allows members of the centre to develop a strong bond with each other that will be necessary for them to recovery from substance abuse. Not only will they aid and