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AA Meeting Takeaway

At the start of the AA meeting I attended, the group facilitator opened by explaining the basis of their beliefs were in a higher power.  He went on to pray and then opened the session by welcoming members.  He emphasized that if people have differing views about who that higher power is that is fine, but he wanted to make sure group members understood his foundational beliefs.  He also made sure to lay ground rules to where members should feel welcomed to share and encourage one another.  A group member was invited to read the twelve steps which relied heavily on believing in a higher power to help them through the process.  The group went on to share personal stories about what lead them to become alcoholics.  A lot of similarities existed in that a lot of members attributed their alcoholism to dysfunctional family dynamics.  If members began to go off topic or interrupted one another, the facilitator made sure to keep the group on task.  The facilitator made sure to include all members and provided constructive feedback.  The group leader concluded by thanking everyone for sharing and providing some tips to use when individuals felt their desire to drink.  The facilitator closed with prayer and we were free to leave.

My takeaway from this group session was that the group was very therapeutic.  Members were encouraged to share because they were in a group with people who understood their same struggles and could help each other through the difficulties.  The group leader took the role of a facilitator and only tried to become involved in the group meeting if things were getting off topic.  I believe this was a support group because people were encouraged to share and help others through their own commonalities. 

Comments

  1. Professor SasseMarch 10, 2018 at 11:27 AM

    Thank you Lauren. The history of how (and who) started AA is a very interesting one. Initially, it was founded and grounded in Christianity, and over the years, in order to be more inclusive and support more people, the emphasis is placed on whomever serves as a member's Higher Power. I appreciate that you included in your description that the leader expressed explanation about this. I think that is a particularly important point, because not all AA leaders remember to make that point clear, even among the AA groups that you and your peers visited, the leader and the context can really influence the comfort level of members. As a therapist, recommendation of 12-Step programs will be one of your "staples" in terms of referrals, and so it is very important that if you ever have a client who visits a particular 12 Step meeting, and doesn't "click" with the leader, remember to encourage them to try a different meeting location. I'm very glad that you had this positive learning experience. I really do think you will carry it with you for a long time and that it will be quite valuable.

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