Al-Anon Meeting Report

Many of the same individuals were present for both meetings. It was interesting to see that those who have been coming to the meeting have stationed themselves in a specific seat of area in the room. Along with seating arrangements, it appeared to be the same people sitting with one another. I had also noticed that one man attends the meetings and presents announcements specific to events associated with AA. He also presents announcements which are related to the church who allows the meetings to be held. I want to assume that the man attends the church but also attends the church. In contrast, this meeting was hosted by two men. Both men are active participants in the discussions and share their

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Al-Anon groups have helped a lot of people become sober, and to deal with an alcoholic family member. It takes a lot for a person to first admit to having a drinking problem, and then share their experiences with a room full of people. If they want help, that is what they have to do. Research on two AA meetings provided a lot of knowledge and understanding.

I have never experienced what it would be like to be a part of an AA meeting. The only time I have had seen or heard someone mention meetings for alcoholics has been TV shows and movies, which would portray these meeting as a circle of strangers just deliberating stories of their life and how this disease has changed them forever. Therefore, I had no idea what to expect. I felt intimidated and had a sense of nervousness, so I decided I would not go alone and brought a friend. My expectation upon entering this meeting was to see beat up people with bad hygiene and a homeless appearance. As a matter of fact, the expectations I had upon walking towards this place was that I was going to get hit on and even get kidnapped. As crazy as it

The meeting was held at the St. Paul Lutheran church in Penn Yan and was an hour long. The number of participants will vary every week, that night there were twelve members present. One member stated that during the summer, more come to the meetings after returning from warmer weather. Members, not facilitators lead Al-Anon groups, they take turns on being the chairperson; starting and ending the meeting. There is also a person who leads a discussion of Al-Anon approved literature. The only formal role is the treasure of the Al-Anon group.

For this paper I attended three Alcoholic Anonymous meetings held every Saturday at the University Presbyterian Church from 7:30-8:30 pm. As I walked into the Church for my first AA meeting I was already feeling a little nervous and intimated. I made my way to the back of the room and sat in the last row while I observed all of the members of AA hugging each other, talking to each other like family, and sitting really close to each other. It felt as if I was intruding upon a bond that is so intimate and close. These particular meetings had two speakers who were asked to tell their stories about substance use and how it all began. In all honesty, I felt very uncomfortable listening to someone else’s story of whom I did not know personally and being at an AA meeting for the first time, I felt as if I was not supposed to be listening to any of it.

The meeting was somewhat systematic when reading the “Preamble”, “How It Works”, and the “12 Traditions”. The “How It Works”, comes from the “Alcoholics Anonymous” book and begins with them admitting that they were powerless over alcohol and that their lives had become unmanageable and ends with them having a spiritual awakening from living by these twelve steps. Once, all of the readings were done, the chairperson asked the group if there were any pressing issues that needed to be addressed. From then, everyone took turns sharing their experiences and the struggles they have faced. The group was open to anyone that wanted to share their story, as I was not forced to share my role as a nursing student. Irvin Yalom’s curative factors were evident throughout both AA meetings. I recognized altruism as prevalent in both meetings. All members were not only willing to share their experience and struggles but they also seemed genuinely concerned for the well-being of the other members and wanted to give their advice in order to help them. The group members were very engaged in the conversations, listening intently and nodding. I also recognized existential factors as being prevalent in the meetings. The members realized that life goes on and they had to figure out how to live everyday life through all the pain, death, joy, sadness, and regrets without trying to escape from them.

Description: The group I have chosen to write about is, Nar-Anon. Nar-Anon, is a group designed to help the individual’s family, cope with having a loved one, addicted to drugs or alcohol. The goal is to help them find a way to become free from the entrapment of the loved ones addiction. When an individual is addicted to drugs or alcohol they are not alone. They bring their family along for the ride. No, they may not be physically taking the drugs, but they are dealing with seeing their loved one loosing quality of life, jobs, cars, homes, children, and always on guard in fear of what they may do, to get the drugs or money they need to purchase them. Anyone, that wishes to join, may do so. The groups are open to the public. These groups are held weekly on Monday evenings at 6:30. The location of the meeting is at St. Marks Church 325 Walnut St. Hazard, Kentucky 41701. This is a very inviting group with a light

After I got there, the meeting was called to order by the person in charge of the meeting. The man read some things that were in a book, I do not know what it really know what the book was called. Then three of the people that were there for the meeting also reads something to the group. The person in charge of the meeting then asked if there were any newcomers or people attending that particular meeting for the first time who care to introduce themselves only by their first name. Next the person in charge of the meeting made some announcements about AA and the days and times that they have meeting at their location. Then finally, the person in charge of the meeting began to talk on the topic. After everyone who wanted to share, they allowed the

Recently I had the unique opportunity of attending three support group meetings. I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and a Nar Anon meeting. Two of the meetings were open and one was closed. Please note that an open meeting is a meeting where the general public is allowed to attend and a closed meeting is designated for a specific group of people. This paper will explore my feelings and experiences during this experience.

Over all, The meeting was well structured because there were members from others AA groups that attended to. The meeting I attended was conducted by the group " Unidad y Armornia" and others two invited groups that joined it such as, Volver a vivir and buscando la verdad. I liked the fact that all the invited groups had enough time to share their experiences with each other.This occurred because they were considerate to each other and managed properly their own talk-timing.So, all people from different groups had the time to be heard. Moreover, the meeting was conducted in Spanish and all the members were from Latinos backgrounds, especially Dominicans and Mexicans.

This whole experience showed me multiple new things that I would have never guessed before. It truly was a voyage to Africa in its own right showing me many new things around every corner. In the future I think it would be fun to go to more meetings and learn more new things from more people.

The meeting that I attended was called “The Way of Life Group”. It took place at Palos Methodist Church, 12101 S Harlem Ave on Monday, January 20, 2014 at 7:00 PM. There were about twenty to thirty people at the meeting. They were all very friendly and welcoming to me as an observer. There were new members and older members and everyone was very open about their situation and dependence on alcohol. Overall, the participants were of all ages, ethnicities, and there was an even amount of men and women.

The meeting went pretty well, all of the group contributed. We had to stop a couple of times but besides that it went pretty well some good parts of the discussion were the connections people made to the book. What also went well was the greeting part of what we thought if the book in one word so far it went pretty smooth and there were no

There were only a few people there and I felt a bit awkward mostly because I went in not knowing what to expect or what I was walking into which made me nervous. In the first meeting that I attended, we began by listening to someone play the piano and sing Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me.” Then we discussed and talked about how we could relate the song to God and our relationship with him. We then went on to read a devotional that concerned depression and we talked a bit about how people in our lives or ourselves have struggled with that. At the end of the meeting, we had a quick group prayer. The following week I decided to attend again. That meeting’s theme was domestic violence. We talked about how to get involved and where we can go if ourselves or someone we know is involved with domestic violence. Through these meetings, I got to hear about other students’ lives and about some of their views. These meetings helped me get to know some of the people on campus.

As a part of our class assignment we were presented with the idea of attending an A.A. and an Alanon meeting. After attending these meetings, I found that they were more interesting than I could have imagined. I am not quite sure what I expected, but the environment held a serene spirit that I normally encounter at church. I attributed this fact, to the point that the name of God was called on often and the people were singing his praises. Observing and listening to how people referenced or acknowledged his presence helped them to refrain from drinking was just awesome. In this paper, I will describe the environment where the meeting took place, how the meeting was brought to order and its format, and the insight it provided me being a future counselor who will have to make referrals.