Abstract
Alcoholics Anonymous provide the perfect model for people with alcohol addiction. Alcoholics Anonymous uses group therapy that has various dynamics such as the twelve steps that help the alcoholics gain discipline of their alcohol consumption. An alcoholic anonymous applies the dynamics of group therapy through meetings where members share their experiences and encourage each other. Critics, however, do not agree with the model that alcoholics’ anonymous use of group therapy and especially the twelve steps. Alcoholics anonymous has helped a majority of alcoholics to become sober and they continue to find better ways to improve their program.
Alcoholics Anonymous vs. the Doctors
Alcoholics Anonymous vs. the Doctors article describes Alcohol Anonymous to be for people who need to get treatment due to alcohol addiction. Persons in attendance to Alcoholics Anonymous attend for free. Attending these meetings for free encourages them to go as many times as they can. Alcoholics Anonymous classify alcoholism as a disease. Alcoholics’ Anonymous meetings view alcoholism as a spiritually related disease. Alcoholics Anonymous vs. the Doctors article describes the alcoholics anonymous to have open and closed meetings. Open Alcoholics Anonymous got categorized into two types. One of Alcoholics Anonymous is where they have one speaker give their encounters and views one at a time. Open Alcoholics Anonymous meetings have non-alcoholics in their midst (Palmer, 2014).
Members of Alcoholics Anonymous narrate one after another the causes of their drinking leading to alcoholism. Alcoholics inform their listeners how they got into Alcoholics Anonymous program. Members in Alcoholics Anonymous are also allowed to say if the meetings have been of help. The second Alcoholics Anonymous is where one of the attendees opens a discussion by his or her story on alcoholism. Members to these meetings come up with solutions that can help them overcome their addiction and other problems they face due to their alcohol addiction.
Closed Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are strictly attended by addicts and people who fear becoming addicts in their future. Majority of the alcoholics prefer the closed alcoholics anonymous meetings, because there they share a common story and understand each other better. In these closed Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, alcoholics feel comfortable airing their views. Alcoholics in the closed Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are very committed to their recovery. Anonymous vs. the Doctors article states that the majority of people facing the alcohol addiction were in the ages of above forty years. The alcoholics about thirty years were relatively high. The meetings get conducted calmly; people who have never attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings think that these meetings are full of chaos.
The Alcoholics Anonymous meetings advices the members to restrain from taking alcohol while under therapy. The Alcoholics Anonymous have identified group therapy to work best in these recovery programs to help members recover from their addiction .Group therapy encourages the alcoholics to be independent during treatment to recover fast. Philosophy is greatly used to help members overcome their addiction by telling them that if they put in their mind into recovery, they can get out of addiction. Addiction gets described as a state of mind in alcoholics anonymous. The surprise that a first timer to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings encounter is that some of the members are in these meetings for years, while others do not stay for long (Palmer, 2014).
This article gives a general idea of how the alcoholics anonymous get conducted. The article also gives a general idea of who are allowed to attend these meetings and why. I was lucky to attend an open alcoholics’ anonymous meeting since they allow non-alcoholics. During their narration, I had nothing to say at first because I wanted to observe how the meetings get run. As the discussion continued, I said that I had attended because I had a drunken uncle who refused to accompany me to the meeting. The Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that I attended took place in the church. The location of the meeting is important because it needs to be accessible and environment friendly. The meeting had about twenty five people. Twenty five people is a good number to form a group.
How Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) Work: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives
Alcoholics Anonymous is widely known to help people with alcohol addiction. Alcoholic anonymous has about two million members. Alcoholics Anonymous has helped about eighty percent of its members to become more sob. The success of Alcoholics Anonymous is not without challenges. It gets alleged that about half of the members who start at the same time, drop out within the first two to three months. Alcoholics Anonymous has seen the members abstain from taking alcohol as they continue to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings (Robinson, 2010).Groups are an important aspect in the society, and people are known to belong to some group at any point in life. Groups can be harmful to the individual and still be beneficial. Groups can help individuals overcome pain and trouble and they can also lead an individual into defiant behavior that can result to destruction
Group therapy gets viewed as a powerful tool therapeutic enough to cure or treat abuse of substances. Group therapy in Alcoholics Anonymous reduces isolation of withdrawn members. Group therapy helps other alcoholics to see recovery results from other group members .Group therapy in Alcoholics Anonymous takes care of depression that members might be going through and shame. Group dynamics in Alcoholics Anonymous have members identify themselves in terms of where they belong in the meetings. Group dynamics in Alcoholics Anonymous has groups for beginners and sponsors. These two groups interact freely, to form identity and categorizations.
The group dynamics in Alcoholics Anonymous, aim at raising the number of members in Alcoholics Anonymous program. Group dynamics has resulted in Alcoholics Anonymous being referred to as a cult while others view it as a social organization. The difference in opinions formed in groups can be intense. However, these group dynamics do not protect members individually, when a group decides to form ideas and opinion that are not welcome in the society. Alcoholics Anonymous is not immune to having members who are deviant and end up tarnishing the name of the program. Alcoholics Anonymous has helped families to save cost on health issues related to alcohol. Alcoholics Anonymous is viewed to be cost effective in terms of medication. Alcoholics Anonymous saves cost to its members because it offers long term recovery services for free. Clinicians are encouraged to persuade their patients to attend self-help groups in Alcoholics Anonymous (Robinson, 2010).
How Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) Work
Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives article states that Alcoholics Anonymous brings positive results to addicts because they use the twelve steps, availability of having sponsors and helping others. Group dynamics believes in higher powers for the treatment in alcoholism to work. The above article explains more about the group dynamics and therapy. It also gives insight on how Alcoholics Anonymous, has been perceived in the society. Alcoholics Anonymous have a formula that works and I would prefer it. The people who talk ill of Alcoholics Anonymous have never been addicted to alcohol and have never attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings intensively. Society should offer solutions to help Alcoholics Anonymous achieve its goals. Alcoholics’ Anonymous dynamics do not only treat addiction in alcohol but also other substance abuse. Alcoholics Anonymous also dissuade their members from engaging in substance abuse that lead to addiction. Former members of Alcoholics Anonymous should get invited into group therapy sessions to give their success stories. Alcoholics Anonymous should also pair their members during the group session in terms of age and sex. For example, young people in a group of older persons may feel out of place. The article provides general information on how Alcoholics Anonymous works (Robinson, 2010).
Does Alcoholics Anonymous Work?
Alcoholics Anonymous is said to be a very powerful program in mental and health issues, and abuse of substance issues. Alcoholics Anonymous provides treatment in their various centers that include hospitals, offices privately owned and not forgetting their large number of clinics. Alcoholics Anonymous have groups formed using twelve steps. Twelve steps groups are Christian based and evangelical. Alcoholics’ Anonymous program describes itself as spiritual and not religious, as the majority of people like to refer to it (Lilienfeld, 2011).
The following are the twelve steps. The first step requires that the alcoholics admit that they are powerless when it comes to alcohol to mean that they could not manage their lives due to alcohol. Second step requires the alcoholics to believe, that there is a greater power than can restore them to sanity. Third step requires the alcoholics, to understand that they decided to let take care of them to overcome alcoholism. Forth step requires the alcoholics to take a look at their morals. Fifth step requires alcoholics to admit to God and to themselves and to other people, the wrongs they have committed. Sixth step requires alcoholics to let God correct them of the defects they have with alcohol. Seventh step requires alcoholics to ask God to remove the shortcomings they have with alcohol. Eighth step requires alcoholics to make a list of people they have harmed and be ready to make peace with them. Ninth step requires alcoholics to better the relationship with people they have harmed. Tenth step require alcoholics to note wrongs committed and be ready to accept them. Eleventh step demands the alcoholics to seek God in prayer to improve their relationship with God. The eleventh step, also require them to meditate to know what will God has for them. The last step requires them to teach alcoholics the above eleven principles (Lilienfeld, 2011).New members to Alcoholics Anonymous are allowed to have an open mind, and it is not a must that they accept the twelve steps. The twelve steps have led the Alcoholics Anonymous to be referred to as a cult.
The Does Alcoholics Anonymous Work? Article refers to these twelve steps as a means to living happy and attaining recovery from addiction. Twelve steps can be used to improve the view that people have about life .I have come to the realization that alcohol gets less viewed as a drug since it is legal. Even though the brewery companies provide a warning, once the addiction hits, help from Alcoholics Anonymous needs to be sought. Alcohol is most abused compared to other drugs. Alcohol has led to increased mortality rates that range from health to accidents (Lilienfeld, 2011). Alcoholism has increased over the decades even with the negative health relations.
Rehabilitation centers have increased to be set up to control alcohol addiction that is breaking up families and other social relations. In a meeting, that I had attended one of the alcoholics had decided to join Alcoholics Anonymous so that his wife could not leave, since his alcohol addiction was ruining his family. He was very optimistic and had plans of becoming a motivational speaker to people facing addiction of any kind. The Alcoholics Anonymous does change lives. The above article has given an in-depth description about the dynamics of group therapy and hence very informative. It has shed light on twelve steps groups that have created controversy over the years. However, the controversy surrounding the Alcoholics Anonymous program is not about to end and it will continue for a long time.
References
Lilienfeld, S. (February 17, 2011). Does Alcoholics Anonymous Work? Retrieved from
<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-alcoholics-anonymous-work/>
Palmer, B. (January 15, 2014).Alcoholics Anonymous vs. the Doctors. Retrieved from
<http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/01/alcoholics
_anonymous_and_addiction_doctors_are_support_groups_or_medications.html>
Robinson, E.(December 2010).How Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous
(NA) Work: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives. Retrieved from
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3140338/>
