AA Meeting From a Student

AA Meeting from a Student Nurse Prospective Response Paper for Alcoholics Anonymous I attended Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting of Northeastern Maryland Intergroup Council at the St. Paul's Lutheran Church on 210 Mount Royal Ave., Aberdeen, Maryland. The meeting was held on August XX, 2011 at 7:00 P.M. As in almost all AA meetings, the participants vary and their ages ranged from people in their teens to adults in their 60s and even 70s.

The social and economic demographics of the participants are also diverse from students to professionals and even some retired people. The major part of the AA meeting aside from the regular sequence of events that occur at every meeting is the testimonial given by one of the participants. In the meeting I attended, Leroy, a 52-year-old recovering alcoholic gave his testimonial. He had been sober for the last nine years but he became an alcoholic while he was only 13 years old.

For about 30 years, he was an alcoholic and he has been from one rehabilitation center to another. By far, the Alcoholics Anonymous and accepting Leroy's Christian faith have been instrumental in his being sober for the last few years. Several issues have been addressed from how one becomes an alcoholic and how this event takes a toll not only on the person but on that person's family and friends as well.

There were even discussions regarding worst case scenarios for alcoholics when they end up committing criminal acts -- knowingly and unknowingly, because of the influence of alcohol. Some of the stories presented were cases involving physical abuse of partners and children by the alcoholic and this caused not only the destruction of the alcoholic's family but landed the person in jail. Joining any Alcoholics Anonymous chapter is not done alone but rather, a sponsor is involved to guide the new member.

But the sponsor does not only facilitate entry into AA but "often develops when the prospect is willing to be helped, admits having a drinking problem, and decides to seek sobriety as a solution (Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2010). The sponsors provides the lifeline to the recovering alcoholic especially when the person relapse back into his or her drinking problem.

Aside from having a sponsor, each AA participant is familiar with the Big Book or Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism. The book contains the stories of how AA came about and particularly mentions the Twelve Steps Program to recovery and the Twelve Traditions of the AA.

The former "is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems while the latter provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large (Northeastern Maryland Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous, 2011). Being part of the AA meeting, I realized how important it is to have a lifeline and network for those who want to rid themselves of their alcoholism.

I felt empathy for those struggling with their problems and at the same time I was happy for those who have fully recovered and maintained their sobriety for years now. As a future nurse, I can consider AA as one of the important and effective intervention methods for those who want to rid themselves of their alcohol-related addiction.

Although I will not consider AA as the only method to treat alcohol abuse, I will recommend complementary intervention methods such as "cognitive behavior therapy is mostly used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, phobias, and other mental.