In this circumstance, individuals may need to be vulnerable about how their addiction has impacted their loved ones. Attendees may share stories and include commentary surrounding their journey of sobriety. Individuals can make friends and gain new perspectives. AA understands some people may not feel comfortable sharing intimate details during their first visit.
As time goes on, most people find great healing and therapy through the open and honest discussions these meetings provide. In a closed AA meeting, the only people who may attend are those who are recovering from an alcohol use disorder AUD or those interested in learning more about overcoming their addiction.
Open meetings allow the attendance of friends, spouses, and family members. This is beneficial for those who wish to remain connected to friend and family members and feel family members support creates feelings of safety.
Closed meetings could protect privacy, allowing limited or no outside involvement. Some people would rather keep their recovery separate from the rest of their life, hence closed meetings. Others thrive on the support that loved ones can provide during meetings, hence open meetings.
While the 12 Steps originated in Alcoholics Anonymous, they are now the standard for nearly all addiction recovery groups, The steps are presented in linear fashion, but participants see them as an ongoing circle.
Steps may be revisited until the individual feels comfortable with that stage of their recovery process. The first step requires admitting you have a problem and need help overcoming it.
Because of the popularity of the 12 Steps, other groups began to surface— Narcotics Anonymous , Gamblers Anonymous and several other variations, each representing 12 Steps or a different version of it. Additionally, 12 Step programs allow for self reflection and growth in order to change for the better.
Make a Call There are some who do not believe in the transformative knowledge of AA meetings. Because of the discomfort associated with attending an AA meeting, many people will come up with reasons not to attend. In other cases, self-doubt or a lack of belief in the recovery process can hinder someone from attending a meeting, and as a result, someone can create excuses or hold an oppositional reason to avoid attendance. Some of the common oppositions people have are:.
Although these excuses may seem huge to people who are already nervous about attending a meeting, the real object to focus on is why you were considering going in the first place. Allowing excuses to keep you from growing or improving your relationships can prove to be an obstacle to wellness.
Seeing the bigger picture versus allowing excuses or an ego to stop you from getting treatment can be something to look at. Setting aside denial and succumbing to admittance is a powerful course of action. By , they broke away from the Oxford Group and started AA. Although Dr. Smith and Wilson kept several elements of the Oxford group, such as holding informal gatherings, going through steps and working for no income, they made many changes.
The addition of AA steps, meetings and sponsors has helped the organization become recognizable as an effective support group to millions of people worldwide. AA is not run by a leadership team, but rather, by members who are former alcoholics with a desire to help others.
This organizational structure has been tremendously successful for AA and its more than two million members. Annually, AA continues to increase its number of chapters around the world and currently has more than , groups. Each AA group is self-run and relies on donations to cover various expenses. Some AA groups have committees in which members take on service positions for a brief period of time — typically several months to two years.
The rotation of positions allows individuals to be as active as they want to be within their chapter. According to a AA membership survey, 27 percent of members have been sober less than a year. After more than 20 years, 22 percent have remained sober. Every individual who takes part in an AA group is advised to read the Big Book, the bible of the organization. The Big Book provides stories of inspiration and recovery resources that will help you on your journey to achieving long-term sobriety.
In it, the book explains both the 12 steps and 12 traditions of AA. As you move to the second half of the book, you will find personal stories from those who have overcome an AUD. Additional stories are added each time a new edition of the Big Book is released. These are relatable for many people in recovery and serve as hope and motivation to maintaining sobriety. The 12 traditions of AA serve as the foundation of the organization.
Because of these, members are able to rest assured that AA is a safe place to share their experiences and get support for their alcohol use disorder AUD. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern. Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
An AA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
For the Cochrane review, the researchers found 57 studies on AA; of those, 35 passed their rigorous criteria for quality. Most of the studies that measured abstinence found AA was significantly better than other interventions or no intervention. None of the studies found AA to be less effective. In the studies that measured outcomes other than complete abstinence, AA was found to be at least as effective.
The researchers looked only at studies of AA; they excluded Narcotics Anonymous and organizations focused on addiction to other substances. Humphreys noted that the findings were consistent whether the study participants were young, elderly, male, female, veterans or civilians; the studies in the review were also conducted in five different countries.
Hear Humphreys discuss the research in a podcast hosted by Paul Costello, senior communications strategist and adviser for Stanford Health Care and the School of Medicine.
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Alcohol Awareness Week Alcoholics Anonymous acknowledge the impact of alcoholism on relationships during Alcohol Awareness Week Find out more.
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