Alcoholics Anonymous Reflection

Alcoholics Anonymous is a healing support group with its primary purpose to help alcoholics stay sober anonymously and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. The meeting that I have attended was the University/ Women’s group at 4021 Walnut St. The meeting was held in West Philadelphia in University City on Friday October 21, 2016. The meeting opens up with prayer and a spiritual meditation for guidance and power to get through recovery. The support group is an example of how community psychology effectively helps change individuals of illnesses achieve a similar outcome, as discussed in Chapter 8. During the session, there was a recitation of rituals and rules to follow for healthy recovery and acknowledge God as the force for improvement. I have chosen to attend to this particular group because it was different from a standard support group. It was solely focused on the women’s fight against alcohol abuse from college aged to senior citizens. This group shed light on women experiencing a disorder that is not often discussed or tolerated in today’s society because of the social stigma against men and women. It is often overlooked and lacks the support of recovery like men. There were about 9-10 women of different races and backgrounds, however they all had a similar story of bondage with alcohol and other drugs.

She had stood out to me because she called alcoholism as a disease and a kind of “bondage”. She had referred to it as “bondage of choice” because the substance had a complete bond upon her. She later explained her gratitude for AA and that she wouldn’t know where she would be without the sisterhood. Many of the women had cried while sharing their stories, whereas I had begun to feel the pain of these strong will-powered women. I realized that the group itself helped support each other by uplifting one another while encouraging sharing and thinking