Alcoholics Anonymous Community Journal Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a group of individuals who all suffer from the same disorder, an addiction to alcohol. Their goal is to aid in sobriety and help alcoholics achieve recovery (aa.org, 2006). The members share their experiences and strength with their peers in hopes of solving their addiction and maintaining sobriety. The purpose of this paper is to outline the AA meeting experience. Student Goals My goals in attending this AA meeting were to better understand the effects of alcohol on an individual unit as well as a group unit and to better understand the recovery process of alcoholics and the strength it takes to seek help. Milieu Management Safety Safety is the number one priority when …show more content…
During the AA meeting, each member was allowed 3-5 minutes to discuss their progress in their treatment plan. This limit was set to allow enough time for each member to talk and to make sure no one member monopolized the entire group time. Balance Balance refers to the allowance of independent behaviors while in a dependent position (Keltner & Steele, 2015, p. 217). While participating in alcoholics anonymous, each member has the choice of continuing with the treatment process or not. They can independently choose to terminate their treatment or stay on the path of recovery. Members can choose to discuss their progress or simply choose to listen to others. No choices are forced upon them and they are free to choose accordingly. Environmental Modifications Environmental modification includes changing the environment to enhance the therapeutic environment for the consumer (Keltner & Steele, 2015, p. 217). The environment of this specific AA meeting displayed therapeutic milieu. A comfortable environment was provided along with snacks, such as cookies, and beverages, such as coffee and water. Members were allowed, even encouraged, to mingle after the meeting to get to know each other on a basis other than their