B I chose to attend two Tuesday morning 12 step meetings for Alcoholics Anonymous. Both meetings were chaired by a very vivacious and animated woman. The topic was humility and happiness. She opened the meeting with an introduction of herself and then asked if there were any non-alcoholics present. I raised my hand and stated I was here for an assignment for my Cultural and Social Health Care class. I thanked them for allowing me in and remarked that I was there to gain a better understanding of addiction and to step out of my comfort zone. Everyone in unison replied “welcome Holly”.
The sharing started with the chairwoman and her relation to humility and happiness in her life. I feel the sharing between the members was a success. There were about 25 women present and about 15 of them shared. There were no moments of awkward silence and as a member came to close their thoughts another member would speak up. There was no particular order of sharing and everyone spoke with ease as well. The second meeting I attended was a week later it was mostly the same group of people. I did introduce myself again when it was asked in the beginning of class if any non-alcoholics were present. There were some who remembered me and smiled.
The objectives of the 12 step program generically are to admit each is powerless over alcohol and that each individual is there to establish a relationship with God and to humbly ask Him to remove their shortcomings. The powerlessness over alcohol was openly admitted by a few members. Although each member is in such a different place in their recovery, I believe the admittance is amongst everyone as they each state they are alcoholics before speaking. The principal psychosocial support structure is that no one passes judgment upon others so that each individual may speak freely and openly. AA teaches an honest way of living to gain