I recently attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in a comfortable house in Santa Monica, California. The room was occupied by approximately 70 attendees, and even more sitting on the outside porch. The focus of this particular day’s meeting was step six of the 12-step program. The sixth step is stated as follows: “We’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character” (Wilson, 1939, p. 76). Following the definition and interpretation of the sixth step, the main speaker of the day came up to the podium to tell her story. This woman was a recovering alcoholic and ex-heroin user. She had been sober for 14 years before she relapsed, and as of now she has been sober for 16 years. She explained that she has struggled with alcohol…
I know that most of us have learned that Bill W. created the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). However, the actual steps and traditions may have found its beginnings prior to Bill W. In the first half of the 20th century a religious organization called the Oxford Group had already been formulating a plan of self-betterment utilizing what we now call the 12 steps (Alcoholics Anonymous World Services [AAWS], 2017). Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist realized that a client of his who had addiction to alcohol could not be helped through medical intervention and referred him to the Oxford Group (AAWS, 2017). The client’s friend was also able to quit drinking through the practices and steps of the Oxford Group (AAWS, 2017). It was this man,…
My first experience at an alcoholics anonymous meeting was very interesting and in a way uplifting. The meeting I attended took place in Philadelphia Miss at 208 Range Ave. at 7:30 p.m. in the evening. Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid fellowship founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio. AA states that its “primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety”. The only membership requirement is to stop drinking and to carry its message to the alcoholic who suffers. There were 20 people excluding myself and two others. Among the 17 people there were seven women and ten men. The ages range from around 20-60. Of the 17 people there, there were little to no diversity within the group. Prior to the meeting I was expecting to enter into a room filled with smoke and nervous, agitated people. My impression of AA and of alcoholics mostly came from my own prior experience with population suffering from different psychiatric disorders. I was expecting a lot of smoking, coffee drinking, twitching and general nervous behaviors. Something that really threw me off was that there were people there with degrees from universities. When I think about alcoholics I think of someone walking down the street in ragged clothes, but to my surprise the meeting mostly was attended by normal appearance people that I would never suspect of having any addition problems. The people were very calm, cool and collected. The meeting started with the serenity prayer followed by the 12 steps, 12 traditions. Then 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. Many talked about God and how he delivered them from drinking. I sympathized with one lady (Christy) a Registered nurse when she shared her story about how alcohol and drugs ruined her career. By sharing their stories I found that to be a very positive thing to do. It…
I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A) meeting, I felt in love with those meeting. I attended a meeting on April 23 at 6 pm. Location 1773 Griffith Park Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. A.A membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence the may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. Membership to ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an AA group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation. This particular AA group was mix, men, women, young people, doctors, gays and others. They were all alcoholics, seek help, have different profession.…
Each and every single day, we walk past many different types of people that come from all walks of life and some who are the typical definition of “normal” that are battling addictions to alcohol. My eyes were opened up a great deal when I attended an open Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that had a guest speaker named James and if I would have walked past him on the street, I would have never known the internal battles that he has faced and does face everyday he gets up out of bed.…
The field of substance abuse counseling is growing exponentially. With the opioid epidemic booming and synthetic drugs flooding the market, there is a dire need for counselors with education, training, and strong work ethics. But that is not why I am choosing to become a Substance Abuse Counselor, there is a little more to it. They say those that have lived it are the ones who can help others during their struggles. I am 45 years old, a mother to 3 beautiful children, one with special needs. I am also a granny to a beautiful little girl, and a wife to an amazing husband. All that has happened in the last 14 years of my life. However, the first half of my life was made up of abuse and addictions.…
When people think of substance abuse they think of cocaine, heroin, or even something horrible worse however, what gets vastly overlooked is having an abuse to drinking alcohol. As it was stated in the textbook and the review PowerPoint 70 million people suffer from alcohol dependency. Alcoholic dependence is very dangerous and life threating, but luckily there is help for this substance abuse as well. Just like in the USA countries around the world have help called alcoholics Anonymous or also known as AA meetings. Alcoholics Anonymous is an international fellowship for men and women who may share their experiences with alcohol in hopes of trying to get better from their alcohol dependency. It is a positive treatment that comes from different…
The type of meeting I decided to attend was an Alcoholics Anonymous held on campus by a fellow University of Cincinnati student. She said that she decided to begin to hold the meetings on the UC main campus because she has had a long history of being an alcoholic and she knew that out of a university of 30,000+ students, she could not be the only person suffering from this condition. There were two additional people who attended the meeting (a male and a female), as well as six classmates who were observing the meeting, and a baby (the child of the woman holding the meeting).…
Alcoholics Anonymous, AA, is an open discussion meeting with anyone who wants to be a part of it or learn options for help. Many people join AA for the idea that they can relate to others and not feel judged on their past and present life choices. I personally, have a hard time understanding alcoholics and what their need for over use of alcohol. I went to an AA meeting with the hopes of understanding and being able to put myself in “their shoes” so that I can learn to help more. From the beginning I was scared, nervous, and confused with the thoughts of attending an AA meeting; therefore, my brain was constantly racing with thoughts on who, what when, where and why would happen while I was at the meeting.…
If you are reading this letter, it means you have chosen to seek help for your addiction and by doing this, you are asking for support from fellow members and utilizing the Higher Power through an Alcoholics Anonymous 12-Step program. We have to commend you for your “STRENGTH” and “COURAGE.” AGAIN, you should be very proud of yourself for making an enormous and the most important step towards recovery by admitting that you are “POWERLESS” over alcohol and secondly that your life is unmanageable and chaotic. Yet, you chose to come clean with this behavior because you want to live a healthier lifestyle away from alcohol and addiction(s). By committing to Alcoholics Anonymous, you have already chosen to “set yourself free” from alcoholism…
The Alcoholics Anonymous meeting I attended was on Wednesday July 15th 2015. It was held at Get It Together 8:00am 393 W. Warner Rd #105 & 106 Chandler, AZ 85225.…
Alcoholics Anonymous is a program that is used worldwide that helps individuals recover from an alcohol addiction. Anyone is welcome to attend the meetings and there is never a fee or charge. There are two types of meetings an open and closed. An open meeting means that anyone can show up to the meeting with the alcoholic such as family members, students, or anyone interested in the topic. A closed meeting is just for the individuals with the addiction. Everyone that participates in the meetings has suffered or is currently suffering an alcohol addiction. It is an informal meeting and there are no doctors or psychologist that attend. It is the responsibility of the individuals (alcoholics) to hold the meeting. The purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous is to provide a supportive environment to achieve sobriety. The origin of Alcoholics Anonymous dates back…
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith. The primary purpose of AA is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. Although AA was founded on Christian principles and by white men, the organization has evolved to be multicultural. AA doesn’t keep a list of members ' names, but estimates that it has 2 million members who come from all backgrounds.…
For my addiction meeting, I chose to go to an open Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting. Alcoholism is an addiction that is both, professionally and personally relevant for me. Professionally, I work at a clinical mental health center were we often see alcoholism or individuals/families in recovery. However, on a personal level my grandfather was an alcoholic, and both my partner and his father are alcoholics in recovery.…
I seem to have been going to alcoholic anonymous a group meeting that overcomes alcoholic addiction. I do tend to indulge in alcoholic tendencies to become more aware of my emotions and the stress of life. The meeting in these groups starts out when one or two members tell their stories, while discussion meetings allocate most of the time for general discussion. Some meetings are devoted to studying and discussing the AA literature. So every day of the week I would go to these seminars and group studies so that I can better my self-everyday. The Instructor did inform us that in this condition, would interfere with normal everyday functioning as it worsens. I found out during a couple of months that I might have Delirium Tremens, which is an…
