One assignment for a class was to attend an AA meeting or any substance use program. This was a way for us students to better understand the process of these groups and reflect on the experience. I appreciated the experience and learned a lot. Here you go...
I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting called the Grateful Group. While driving to the group, I was talking with my dad and I did not feel nervous until I parked in the parking lot and saw how many cars were there and all the people standing outside the doors. I became really nervous and thought I might just leave, I don’t really need to come to this, what might people think. While at that moment my dad challenged me to remember this feeling I had and cleared some anxiety by mentioning ‘this is how your clients are going to feel when coming to see you’ or ‘how the members of this group might be feeling’. That insight gave me enough courage to stay and attend this meeting.
The Grateful Group is a self-supported fellowship of both men and women that is one of 4 AA meetings in the Massillon, Ohio area. These groups are ways for alcoholics to come together and maintain their sobriety with other sober friends. They begin each meeting with coffee, treats, and social time to allow everyone to arrive. They have someone go to the front of the room and say a prayer before the meeting starts. They pass around a basket for donation and have time to mention any important information about members being sick or events coming up. At each meeting they have a ‘lead’ speaker who comes up and shares their life story, bringing up and sharing the lows and highs of their life. Through sharing, members can release some stress or tension they might be experiencing, and at the end of the ‘leads’ talk, other members are allowed to respond to what the ‘lead’ has talked about. They mentioned that these groups are for anyone who wants to have a life of sobriety and also support each other through the journey to sobriety. The meeting was finished with everyone standing up and holding hands to say a final prayer and dispersing.
When I walked into the church, I saw two long rows of tables and chairs with many people already seated and talking. I sat down and said hello to those around me and tried hiding behind my phone before the meeting started. It did not take long before members started approaching me and mentioning that I was a new face, I introduced myself and told them I am there to observe and to learn. Overall the group members were mostly males and mostly older population. It was suggested I could move and sit next to the other women of the group, I did and met some women who asked who and why I was there. It seemed they have had many college students sit in to observe. I felt welcomed right away and the environment was a friendly and supportive one, but I still felt pretty reserved. The lead for this meeting had been a member for 20 years and painted a dark picture of who he was in his younger age and how alcohol had always been a comfort for him while creating issues in his work, marriage, and relationship with his children. He then talked about how a member of the group got a hold of him and did not stop until he became a member and wanted to start living his life differently. By the end of the talk, he thanked his mentors for all they have done for him and how he had a steady job, celebrating 30 years with his wife, and good relationships with both his children. He understood the issue at his young age but was not capable to take the step to stop drinking till he found the support and help he needed.
This group meeting really opened my eyes to how hard it can be to reach out for help and follow through. There is still a stigma that exists which makes it difficult for those who struggle with addiction and other mental health issues to seek help. This experience gives me a new appreciation for those who go to these groups or to therapy in general, it truly is a courageous and brave act. The things that ran through my head in the parking lot before the meeting are potentially what those working through addiction and showing up is one of the hardest steps toward growth.
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