When the meeting was over I knew that this experience had changed my views on 12 Step Meetings and people who use and abuse substances. According to Hart and Ksir (2015), “Until the 20th Century, the most common view was probably that alcoholics and addicts were weak-willed, lazy or immoral” (p. 32), which I hate to admit was what I thought before this meeting. Now I know that this is far from the truth, although there will always be some people who have no interest in help or bettering themselves, the people I met at this meeting had faith and hope like no one I have ever met. Some people attending the meeting had 28 years of sobriety, 7 months and as little as two weeks, but any amount of abstinence from this substance that can take away
...ences have thankfully sheltered me from witnessing a person suffering from a serious drug or alcohol addiction. Prior to this experience my knowledge was limited as to how one would successfully regain sobriety. I left the center feeling blessed, thankful that these men allowed me to witness a transformation in progress. Although I have been given the knowledge; I gained awareness that addiction truly is an illness. My thoughts and feelings will definitely be more tolerant and caring all while showing concern to those that I may blessed to be a part of their care in the future.
Coming into the substance abuse meeting the student nurse was scared and nervous. She was scared of the reaction of the consumers and feared all the stereotypes she heard about typical alcoholics. Innervison gave the student nurse a new outlook on these types of consumers. She no longer looked at them as people who were just drunks and wanted to use AA as an excuse to make it seem like they are getting help. She never really looked at alcoholism as a true addiction; it seemed like more of an excuse to escape life’s problems. Sitting in and listening to these consumers gave the student nurse a dose of reality. The student nurse now understands alcoholism better and AA helped her realize recovery is truly a process that takes one day and one step at a time.
Alcoholism is as prevalent in my family, as blood is in our veins. When previously asked to observe 12-step groups, I ritualistically flocked to Alcoholics Anonymous, without consideration of the possibility that other groups had any potential to make an impact on me. I always pride myself in my ability to identify as an individual that is not ensnared in alcoholism, but unfortunately am an individual that was highly tormented by alcoholism. Through observation of the group and how it processed, as well as identifying how I felt as a new attendee, I was able to understand why self-help, support groups are so vital for individuals in recovery. I finally realized, I too am in recovery.
On February 27, 2014, I visited an Alcohol Anonymous (A.A) therapeutic group meeting called Another Chance. Another Chance is an intergroup meeting located inside the Concord Baptist Church of Christ, at 833 Gardner C. Taylor Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY 11216. Another Chance has been in operation for over thirty years, and holds open discussion meetings on alcohol use and prevention, every Thursday from six in the evening until seven o’clock. This group interaction with alcohol substance use and abuse focuses on helping all members regardless of race, ethnicity or culture, to abstain from drinking one day at a time; and encourages them to maintain healthy thoughts and emotions through the use of the “Twelve Steps and Traditions” of recovery and intervention approaches.
The Meeting is a play written by Jeff Stetson that portrays the theoretical meeting of Malcom X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The play’s opening scene shows both men on opposite sides of the stage with spotlights on them. They take turns speaking to make it seem as if these interactions are happening at separate locations and at different points in time. We can assume they’re being interviewed because we hear a voice offstage asking the men questions. However, in these interviews, neither man is known by the public for accomplishing anything, almost as if the revolution they created had never happened. Directly following, Malcom wakes up from his nightmare, which is what the audience just witnessed. Based on
Attending an A.A meeting for anyone may be hard. According to, “Psychiatry and Wellness”, “Practically nobody looks forward to going to their first AA meeting.” Alcoholics or recovering addicts may feel the same way I felt when attending their first A.A meeting. Some alcoholics may feel worse than I did. Some alcoholics may feel ashamed to attend an A.A meetings. Some alcoholics may be scared or have fear to go to an A.A meeting because they do not know what to expect. The thought of attending an A.A meeting may be worse than actually attending an A.A
Though not much research has been done to find out the effectiveness on NA meetings for persons with addictions, there are some studies done to show outcomes of this form of treatment. Many addicts try to put themselves in rehab or some form of treatment to help them with their recovery. According to the article “Attendance at Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, frequency of attendance and substance use outcomes after residential treatment for drug dependence: a 5-year follow-up study” by Michael Gossop, Duncan Stewart, John Marsden, they state “…the relatively high rate of relapse which often occurs after leaving treatment gives rise to concern” (Gossop, Stewart, & Marsden ,2008). This means after rehab there is no form of treatment helping them with their sobriety. “Studies that looked specifically at NA have found an association between group attendance and improved drug-using outcomes and length of time in NA has been found to be related to abstinence from illicit drugs” (Gossop, Stewart, & Marsden ,2008). Another study on youth, ages ranging from 30 and under, from the article “Can 12-step group participation strengthen and extend the benefits of adolescent addiction treatment? A prospective analysis” by John Kelly, Sarah Dow, Julie Yeterian, and Christopher Kahler, explains “…high post-treatment rates
This experience helped me to recognize the internal struggle that a substance abuser faces on a continuous basis. In addition, I know that an individual can have a difficult time changing their behavior even when they have a strong desire to change; the smallest thing can cause a person to relapse.
One thing I admired about each of the individuals at the meeting was that all of them held their selves accountable to fight their addiction. Each one of these people could have been consumed with something else on that Wednesday night, but instead, they all choose to come together to become a better version of themselves. They stated that if they didn’t attend the meeting that night they would all feel more likely to fall back into their addictions. Many of them reported attending a meeting multiple times a week. Thus, I was impressed when learning how frequent NA meetings are held. One of the members had informed me that some groups will run every night of the week. Therefore, making it hard for someone to come up with an excuse to miss a
He spoke of a time he would get mad at other for no reason and he spoke to his sponsor about it and would ask was he wrong for doing as such. and the sponsor respond it's because those people reminded him of his self. The overall challenges of arranging this meeting was more difficult compared to first time I attended a group. Reason why was due too many groups within the Polk county region are closed to visitors sit in’s. Another challenge that came upon was during the observation to actually witness again on how a substance can control someone life completely and ruin everything in their lives and it was heart breaking to witness. As before during the first group I attended with a family friend the emotions and stories were beyond thought of but to witness it again it actually affected me more than before. Overall attending this group was another eye opener for me again. As observing them I witness something bigger then all of us and that was the beauty of life. Being able to lose it all over a addiction but regain your life again for a second chance that's special to witness's their fight for
Therapy Analysis The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficacy of my work as a co-therapist during the fifth session with the simulated couple Katy and Michelle. I will discuss our therapy agenda and the goals we hope to attain during the session. It is prudent to begin by giving a brief outline of the couple’s present problem and the patterns of dysfunction that I have identified within their relationship. In my opinion, it is the therapist’s job to recognize patterns and behaviors that disrupt the intimate bond between the partners.
The group was focused on learning ways to recognize situations or things that could trigger to return to drug use, act violently, commit a crime, or do some kind of destructive act. PO had a moderate level of participation in a group discussion. PO identified that visiting places she used to buy/sell drugs, or talking/hanging out with old friends/acquaintances could be a high risk situation. PO stated going to NA meetings and talking to sober friends help her to stay clean and sober. PO appears to be in compliance with treatment.
This has been a very important lesson for me and my views on addiction because I was “raised” in a facility that promoted twelve step groups and implanted in me that their way was the only way, that the disease concept was real and that medically assisted treatment was the devil. I have watched countless people die because this belief was instilled on them as well, today I work in a medically assisted treatment facility, and as I said before no way if the right way, it’s the path of the
As I continue my journey as an emerging counselor, I have realized how crucial the relationship between client and counselor is. However, after reading the two assigned sections from Carl Rogers book, I felt inspired and incompetent because there is so much to learn to truly strive to become a better helper. I have learned that there are many features of a good relationship. However, first one needs to move away from a dualistic way of thinking. A dualistic thinking is not an effective way to approach therapy as a counselor. I recall coming into this helping profession with a problem-solving mentality but I quickly realized that that type of mentality would not be effective or helpful. Hence, Rogers reassured that assumption in his book. In contrast, one needs to realize that it is not about solving the client’s problems but rather the depth of understanding and openness between the counselor and client.
The counseling session began with the introductions where I introduced myself as the counselor and later introduced my client. This stage is important in any counseling session since it is the time of exploration and focusing according to Gerard Egan as quoted by Wright (1998) in his essay on couselling skills. It is in this session that I was able to establish rapport and trust with my client in order to come up with a working and fruitful relationship with him. During this stage I made use of skills like questioning, where I would pose a question directly to my client, sometimes I would choose to just listen to what the client wanted to speak out while in some instances I would be forced to paraphrase the question if I felt the client did not understand the question I had asked previously. There were also other times when I would reflect through silence. During such a period, I got time to study the client and the information he had given. This being a difficult area, since some clients may not be able to volunteer information to you as the counselor, I decided to assure the client of confidentiality of any information he was willing to share with me with a few exceptions which I also told him about. Being open to him about the only times the information may not be confidential was part of my building rapport and establishing trust with him. I therefore, decided to ask the client what information he wanted to share with me and lucky enough he was ready to speak to me about different issues that he was going through.