AA meetings are for people who are struggling with alcoholism which means they have an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency. I believe that these meetings are not helpful and in some cases cause harm the people who are trying to change and no longer alcoholics or drug addicts. These meetings do not have high success rates in fact they have very low rates. They have a 12 percent success rate for people who are sober for ten years and these meetings also have a very high depression and suicide rates because of their 12 step program. The AA meetings limit their success target only alcoholics as its main priority and unless you have a problem with alcohol you cannot be a member of the AA. I believe that if you have any type of addiction you deserve the help you need especially if you are looking for a change and want to better yourself. These AA
I was asked by the group leader to introduce myself and to read the open statement. I was very much appreciated by the members and got a warm welcome. I learn about myself that I can integrate into any setting and participate in a positively. I was astonished that members had the confidence to share their stories in an open forum and be honest about their history. Moreover, I was touch by the member enthusiasm to come out in a large group and support each other. My initial perception of the members in the room is that some members may be shy to disclose their stories, but was amazed that everyone came forth in the room to discuss their shortcoming. Furthermore, I did not have any stereotypes perception about alcoholism since I am aware that alcoholism is a disease that affects the brain. My understanding about alcoholism was confirmed by the various client verbalization of their stories and problems associated with
I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at a church in Henderson. Going to the recovery meeting was a very interesting experience. I have heard good things about Alcoholics Anonymous because my mom used to be an alcoholic. She has been sober for more than 15 years now and has said that Alcoholics Anonymous was very helpful step in her recovery. The meeting was different than I expected. I expected a small group of people sitting in a circle and telling their stories and it was very different from that. It was an extremely positive place. There were people ranging in ages and people ranging on length of sobriety. Some people there have been sober for over 25 years and some people had less than a week
Chapter 10 is about the Folk Psychotherapy of Alcoholics Anonymous ( AA) by L A. Alibrandi. The focus of the Chapter is “detailed examination of the relationship between the sponsor and the new comer. A.A. sponsors help others to achieve and maintain sobriety. I like the statement of an AA member “Drunks get sober every morning, or every time they go to jail or a hospital, but in A.A we learn how to stay sober.” (Zimberg, S, et al pg. 165).
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. In my first session, the group started with a silent prayer, and read Alcoholic announcement. Next, the reader introduced the group leader. The group leader stated that goals that needs to be accomplish in this group which is stay sober day by day. The group leader also discuss in the group session about alcoholism. The group leader stated that alcoholism is a disease, and alcoholism progress and a chronic disorder. It affects the individual physical and mentally. Alcoholism is incurable and fatal. The group leader was very humorous and stated that many people who are nonalcoholic called alcoholics weak, crazy, and a sinner.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss and reflect on my experience attending an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting. Alcoholic anonymous (AA) was created to help individuals effected by Alcohol collaborate and support each other during their time of need. All AA meetings are structured differently. However, there are only two types of meetings: opened and closed meetings. During my experience, I attended an open meeting where anyone can come regardless of a diagnosed alcohol problem or the level of experience one had with participating in such meetings.
The meeting started with the AA promise and 12 steps, which I believe they start every meeting with. There was not one specific topic focused
The NA meeting had a guest speaker named Adam, the most surprising thing about meeting were candor and humor evoked by the speaker. Adam acknowledged that he has been addicted to drugs for seventeen years, and this behavior started when he was in the 7th grade. Adam was genuinely outspoken and humorously shared being in and out of treatment facilities over 28 times costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. The group really identified with the speakers story, and this was exhibited by laughter and comments from the crowd.
As the leader of the group the counselor will use the intake appointment to meet with the participant individually and talk about the group structure. Once the counselor has met with the participant, the participant will answer some screening questions. After the participant has completed the screening questions the counselor will have an interview with the participant. The counselor will get additional information or clarification based on the screening questions. The counselor will then advise the participant that she will call the participant to inform them if they will be part of the group.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a group of individuals from all walks of life, who come together with the hope of abstaining from alcohol abuse. The main goal of this support group is to abstain from alcohol, and to achieve control of their lives without drinking. According to Stuart, “Alcoholic anonymous (AA) The most common type of self-help group for substance abusers is the 12-step group.” (Stuart, p. 467, 2013) One of the important functions of these groups is to let the individual know that they are not alone in this predicament and that “mutual support can give them the strength to abstain” (Stuart, p. 467, 2013). Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has a model is based on the 12 steps tradition. There are several different self-help groups around
For this reflection assignment I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The AA meeting I attended was at St. Joe’s Education Center in Ypsilanti at 7:30 pm. As far as the demographics of the group: The number in attendance was about 60 people I would say, it was very packed surprisingly to me. I did not expect it to be that many people there. When I think of an AA meeting I think of a small meeting with maybe 20 people that are a close group not around 60. Also the age range was surprising, I was expecting to see all older adults but the age range was actually a very wide range. I would say from early twenties on up to late sixties. Male to females range was about equal, there were slightly more males in attendance at the meeting, which
I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous group at Gateway Group within the community I reside. On arrival to the meeting I identified myself as instructed and state my reason for the visit. Immediately after I identify myself several individuals in the meeting had objections with me staying at the meeting because I did not state that I was an “alcoholic”. The group leader for this meeting asked for a vote in favor for all who wanted me the leave the session. The vote was in favor of me to stay with a seven to three vote, the individuals in favor for me to leave left the meeting. I attempted to leave the session on several different occasions because I felt uncomfortable that the members with alcoholic problem did not want me in there meeting.
I found the two co-leaders of the group and introduced myself as a Social Work student with Simmons College. They welcomed me to the group and said they were glad to have me. The group began a little later than the time designated for it to start. The beginning of the meeting was structured very clearly. The leaders began the group by introducing themselves and explaining a little bit about what brought them to CoDA. This self-disclosure provided an opportunity for group members to feel less alone and find something to relate to. The group then went around in a circle and introduced themselves one-by-one. Along with their introduction, members were asked to include one word about their current emotional state. This served as a check-in for the members and offered the leaders a platform from which to base their facilitation of the group. After introductions, the group leaders asked for volunteers to read the preamble, twelve steps, twelve traditions, and the welcome message. These pieces of literature provided a much-needed sense of purpose for the group. I was able to clearly see the principles of purpose laid out by Doel and Kelly (2014): “No jargon… No hidden agendas… Outcomes are related to wants and needs… Specific enough to be
Attending an AA meeting was a new experience for me, although I had family and friends that had attended meetings they never told me what the meetings were like. Arriving to the meeting was different than what I expected. When looking at movies they would show dark rooms and sitting in a circle, completely different than what a real meeting is. But once I was there the lady in charge greeted me and introduced herself. I was surprised to see everybody being so friendly to each other. They looked beyond each other’s race and social class, they were there because they knew they had a problem and that by being there they were going to get the help they need. They were willing to help each other out in any way they could. I felt happy to know that
According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, alcoholism is the number one addiction in America with 17.6 Million or 1 in 12 people suffer from the addiction (NCADD, 2015). Along with the addiction comes irresponsible choices, the most notable is Driving under the Influence (DUI), this is the same as Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). In response to the prevalence of DUI/DWIs and alcohol related crimes in today’s society, local governmental systems have decided upon creating DUI courts.