Attending an AA Meeting: A Personal Experience

Reaction Paper SAB 110-02 I first attended AA meetings as a requirement while I was in outpatient treatment in 2002. So when I learned that I had to go for a class assignment, I thought I would be comfortable attending a meeting. I was going with the intent on just sitting in the back and listening. The meetings that I had gone to in the past were held at the treatment center where I was seeking help. For this assignment, I went to a group meeting at a prominent church in south Charlotte. Once inside I was greeted with lots of hugs and handshakes, this is when my plan changed.

I was asked if this was my first time attending a meeting with every other introduction. All of the feelings of being nervous I had years ago from going to my first meeting, started coming back on me. This was a large group of middle age men and women, with little or no diversity within the group. The meeting began with the reading of the 12 steps, the 12 traditions followed by the Serenity Prayer. After the readings, one thing that surprised me was how the large group divided up into three different groups. One group for women, an open group for beginners, and a closed meeting for men, I stayed in the closed meeting.

The topic of discussion on this night was on recovery and service. While I was listening to people talk about how long they had been in recovery, and how attending meetings several times a week for many years had kept them sober. Others spoke about how they do service work. One gentleman talked about being in recovery and that he felt they were only able to remain sober because they became active in service and helping others. I got involved in the discussion and stated that this was my first time in a meeting in nine years.

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I felt like the next few people to speak was a direct response to what I had said, it made me feel uncomfortable. I was active in service and unity during my first few years in recovery, but I personally believe that a person should not have to be in recovery for the rest of their life once they become sober. AA works very well for some people, and a lot of people either find it ineffective, or they turned off by it. I respect the opinions and perceptions of those that do. Recovery is not something that you can force on someone.

What works one individual made not do the same for someone else. The next meeting I attended was a NA meeting. This was the first time that I had been to a meeting, but I was not nervous attending a meeting. The meeting was held at a different church, but in the same area of the AA meeting. I was quite surprised when I went inside. There was a wide range of diversity in this meeting, as it relates to age, socioeconomic background, profession, educational level, and gender. One thing that was caught my attention was the number of high school age people who were there.

The meeting began much like the AA meeting did with the reading of the steps, traditions and the serenity prayer. This was an open discussion meeting. There were two teenagers who were there together, who talked about using the day before. One of them mentioned that they were jealous of their friends at school. The reason she gave was that how her friends could use drugs and maintain self control, but she was the one to lose it. There were a few things in this NA meeting that I learned. First was, when discussing your drug usage or your drug of choice you don`t mention the name of the drug.

It was also stated to keep the conversations about narcotics and not alcohol, which surprised me, being that this was my first NA a meeting, I have talked and listened to addicts and recovering addicts many times before but sitting in on a meeting touched me differently. I felt more comfortable attending the AA meeting, mainly because I had been to some in the past. Also the NA meeting did not seem to be as organized as the AA meeting. People would get up and walk out to smoke while someone was talking. Another distraction that took away from the meeting were people talking about other topics other than addiction.

Overall the meeting was informative and the people were very nice and like a close knit family. I choose to attend an Al-non meeting, and I enjoyed this experience the best. I did not know what to expect going in, but was put at ease from the kindness shown by the people. This was an opening meeting and open discussion. This group was made up of mostly middle age upper class females, with one couple. They started the meeting with some group business and announcements, after that I thought I was in a AA meeting, The topic was on the holidays and how to cope. When people talked about being in recovery, they were speaking about themselves.

I did join in on the discussion and stayed a few minutes after the meeting to ask some questions about the group. I could see myself going back to Al-non for support if I had issues with or was affected by a friend or family member drinking. I got some very good insight and information from all three meeting, but the Al-non seemed to be the one that was the most sincere. Unlike at other meetings for addicts themselves, the 12 steps in this meeting did not seem to take top priority, but rather the group help seemed most important to Al-non. They closed the meeting with the Lord prayer and invited me to come back.

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