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…
Cousnelor referred Jeff to an Alcohol Anonymous meeting at Alano Club. Alano club is a non-profit corporation and facility which provides social and recreational activities for the recovering addict/alcoholic and families in a clean and sober environment. Alano Club runs an AA on Sundays around 5 pm at 1350 N 11th St Fresno, CA 93703. The contact information of Alano Club is (559) 264-2730. The only requirement for AA meetings is the desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA. This AA group focuses on AA sayings, Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions and sharing stories of addicts who are recovered.…
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,…
I decided to attend a meeting based first (and almost solely) on convenience of the location. So I decided to attend a meeting right here in Batavia. The “Batavia 12 & 12” at the Holy Trinity Church down on 6th & Wood St. They hold meeting on Mondays around 11:00am. The main focus is to follow the 12 steps in order and work on them in a more traditional fashion. They do have the big book, but follow it more in a step by step focus. However karma decided to rear its head and make it a Closed Meeting, meaning that it is not as open to the public to sit on and they only allow members who are coming with a problem related to alcohol. So at first I was turned away but, I was lucky enough to know a person (local firefighter) who attends the church, and talked the host into letting me sit in on a meeting. So with the awkwardness of getting into the door out of the way, it was time for the meeting.…
Alcoholics Anonymous is an organisation dedicated to helping people recover from alcoholism. Open meetings are open to anyone, while closed meetings are only open for recovering alcoholics. Meetings are about one hour long. A major component of AA are the twelve steps as outlined in The Big Book:…
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.…
Today I went to my Alcoholics Anonymous class, and needless to say, I did not know what to expect. I went to the Step program at Memphis Memorial, and the entire group was very accepting of having nursing students attend. The class began with one lady reading from their big book, and then the group recited the serenity prayer and the 12 steps. Once this was completed, the nursing students in attendance introduced ourselves and stated our reason for being there. The leader of the group asked to members if they had anything to discuss, and since nobody offered any discussion topics, he brought up the topic of “Are you doing everything you can to get the most out of the program?” This became a very emotional topic to the members.…
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…
During the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting I attended, my eyes were opened to the disease of addiction. When I walked into the meeting, I introduced myself and announced that I am a nursing student and was there to observe. In sync, all of the people attending the meeting greeted me. Twelve people took turns to read the twelve steps on the road to recovery. After the twelve steps were read everyone introduced themselves and then everyone greeted them at once. It was announced that each person that was there for addiction had only had five minutes to share their story.…
The topic of the meeting was on feelings and emotions which I definitely could relate to. As people discussed their emotions and feelings I started feeling sad for some of them. I did not realize how much pain these people are in. I could feel their pain as they talked about what was weighing so heavily on their minds. I sat there and thought what I could do to help them. I started to feel a little sorry for some of them because I feel they depend too much on others to keep them from drinking. Don`t get me wrong the support network they have is amazing but only you can do it for yourself. I wanted so bad at times to tell some of these people only you can keep yourself clean. I think some of these people acted like only these meetings could keep them clean. I do not believe that to be the truth. I felt sorry for one girl because her friend had just committed suicide and she was having a hard time not taking a drink over it but the ones with more recovery time seem to come to her rescue. However, I thought what these people would…
Just like the AA meeting, I felt very uncomfortable with attending an Al-Anon meeting. I have been fortunate enough where no one close to me has ever been addicted to alcohol. I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to relate to the members of this meeting. I was very nervous walking in the meeting and I felt out of place. One thing that brought me relief was the smiling faces and happy conversation I encountered as I entered the room. These people looked like they were trying to make the best out of the situation that their loved ones put them in.…
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…
I am the sister of a recovering addict. My brother attends group every Friday for his addiction and to find new ways in helping with his dependency on drugs. Every now and then, the families of the recovering addicts are asked to attend a group meeting. So, recently my mother, sister, and I attended a group meeting with my brother. I have been to so many meetings with my brother that I normally know how things are going to go, but this group meeting went differently this time.…
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…