Alcoholics Anonymous: A Personal Account of my Experience at an AA 12-Step Meeting A Personal Account of my Experience at an AA 12-Step Meeting: Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics anonymous groups are groups where recovering alcoholics, and alcoholics with a desire to stop drinking meet to educate and inspire each other about their journey with alcoholism, and their decision to restore their lives. This text presents a personal account of what I experienced in one of the AA group sessions that I attended in my locality.

A Personal Account of my Experience at an AA 12-Step Meeting

I searched the internet for the available open AA 12-step groups in my locality, and located one whose members meet every other Saturday evening in the local church. The website stated clearly that this was a women's group, and I figured that it would be interesting to know the specific factors that drive women to addiction, and how their position in the home is affected by such involvement. I contacted a friend of mine in the same class and together, we scheduled a visit to the church during one of the group's sessions. Our experience actually began as a mix-up -- we arrived at the church at 5:30 PM to give ourselves time to meet the members and get comfortable as the website had indicated that the group's meetings often begin at 6 pm. Upon arrival, however, the caretaker at the church hall informed us that this was a closed group, and 'onlookers' were not allowed...

We apologized for the misinformed website and indicated that we would try another group. She was concerned that we had spent so much time preparing for the same, and thus, she requested that we wait and see if the members would allow us into the session. She informed the group leader of our situation, and the leader then asked us to wait until all the members arrived so we would obtain their views on the same.
The meeting opened with a word of prayer from one of the members, after which the leader informed the group that we were students and were seeking their permission to observe the group activities during that session. He asked if anyone objected to the same, and indicated that if any member was uncomfortable with our presence, we would have to leave. No one objected outright although members raised some privacy and anonymity concerns. We assured them of our cooperation and confidentiality, and they then allowed us to stay. This first encounter provided a glimpse into the group's decision-making process -- decisions were unanimous and each member was given an opportunity to voice their opinion and take part in the process. The decision-making process was open and honest, and I felt that members were valued equally regardless of their age and situation. This form of decision-making helped to create unity and cohesion among members (Gastil, 1993)

Cohesion among members was further expressed through the use of 'we' in the statement of the twelve steps and traditions. The statements included 'we admitted we were powerless over alcohol', 'we made a searching and fearless…