Twelve Step Anaylsis

Kathryn Hunter- 12 step meeting

I attended an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous hosted at a church in Del Valle on Friday, February 7th. I chose this particular group because it was in Del Valle close to my internship, which made it very accessible with my busy schedule. It was also recommended to me has highly attended group, which I though would make a good experience. I walked into the meeting very nervous, I didn't know what to say or where to sit. I was nervous for anyone to talk to me because I was afraid that it would be a big deal that I wasn't an alcoholic. I walked in and there was coffee being served, much like you see on TV, and everyone was sitting in a circle. There were 25 people there; 18 men and 7 women. People were very chatty and they good amount of them appeared to know each other. They were smiling and talking about day-to-day business such as replacing breaks on their car and the recent rainy weather. Their was a leader of the meeting that started it off with reading a passage from the 'Big Book". It was a discussion meeting, as opposed to a speaker meeting where everyone sat around and discussed a given topic. The topic for the meeting was given by the leader and for this particular night was 'choice'. Also, much like in TV shows, they went around the group and said, "Hi my name is _____ and I am alcoholic" they followed that with saying how long they have been sober for. When it got to my turn I said, "pass" which other individuals had previous said before me. They then went on to talk about 'choice' and how it related to them and what they take from it. One young lady said, " I didn't chose to be an alcoholic but I chose to be in recovery". I like this a lot because it empowers the individual and at the same time doesn't put blame on the individual or infer that because they are an alcoholic means that there is something innately wrong with them. The meeting was emotional at times and then would come laughter and then followed by emotion again. The meeting wrapped up with everyone standing up holding hands stating the serenity prayer. People went around after and talk to each other individually and were smiling. Just as an outsider you could see that these individuals feel rejuvenated and happy with their experience. They were relaxed and appeared to be in good mood. I was able to take a lot from the meeting and personally feel what they discussed are helpful for even individuals that aren't living with addiction. People offered great advice and support that I will benefit from. There was a sense of community and camaraderie that you can't find anywhere else.

I felt the group was rather large,