Brief History of AA
The history of AA origin can be traced as an outcome of a meeting that occurred between recovering alcoholics Bill W. and Dr. Bob S. Bill was from New York and was a Stockbroker in the region. On the other hand, Bob was a surgeon in Akron, Ohio. The two individuals considered themselves hopeless owing to their binge alcohol consumption (Kitchin, 2022). During their meetings, Bill emphasized that alcohol was a malady of emotions, the mind, and the body. Consequently, Boll emphasized that alcoholism was a disease, something that Bob was unaware of. In this case, Bob was convinced by Bill’s Idea, and soon he got sober and never drank again. Interestingly, the first meetings between Bob and Bill sparked the foundation of AA as both individuals set to work with alcoholics in Arkon City, Ohio which further spread to other parts of the world.
AA has served for the longest time all over the country. Since its establishment, AA has been in operation for 87 years and has spread to about 187 countries worldwide (Coleman, 2019). The most important individuals in AA are alcoholic individuals who are dedicated to abstaining from the disease by embracing the spiritual values of the 12-step program (Coleman, 2019). The primary aim of the group is to achieve maximum sobriety. In this case, there are development milestones placed by the group to help members achieve sobriety. The milestones include the achievement of sobriety timelines, including 24 hours of sobriety, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 4 months, 5,6,7, 8, and 10 months of sobriety (Humphreys et al., 2021). Importantly, individuals are provided with coins aligned to the sobriety timelines that they use to celebrate the same. The present status of AA can be attributed to the number of individuals involved in the 12-step program as well as the level at which the AA program has been effective. According to information relayed on the AA website, the group now contains 2,100,000 members (Erickson, 2020). In addition, high-quality clinical meta-studies have shown that AA programs support linking members to clinical facilities where they acquire further treatments.
Meeting structure and foundation
AA meetings are structured into gatherings where members engage in discussions about alcoholism. Under most circumstances, the meetings are perceived as quasi-ritualized therapeutic sessions which are undertaken and run for the benefit of the alcoholics. The meetings are organized into various types, and in some of the meetings, a basket is passed around for members to make donations aimed at supporting the group’s operations. AA’s primary tradition is for the group to be self-supporting rather than depending on outside contributions. One type of meeting undertaken by the group is open versus closed meetings. Open meetings are meant to welcome everyone, including the observers and the non-alcoholics. On the other hand, closed meetings are self-professed and are meant for individuals who desire to stop drinking alcohol and cannot be challenged by any member of the group in any way.
Speaker meetings are organized to allow members to tell their own stories regarding how they have been able to achieve milestones or challenges they face in achieving the milestones. Big book meetings are organized to enable AA members to read the AA books and discuss what they have been able to learn from the books. There are also discussion meetings, which are undertaken without topics to pursue. These meetings are meant to enable participants to speak up for themselves and share issues of their interest.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
Brief History
Patrick Kinnon established Narcotics Anonymous in the year 1953. The group was founded in Los Angeles, California. The group aimed to support its members from using addictive drugs. During its establishment, AA had already been in existence for about 20 years and was on the verge of gaining international recognition. However, Kinnon realized that AA was more focused on alcoholism and not a drug (Press, Clean Living, 2022). It is from this ideology that Kinnon realized the benefits of AA and its 12-step program and began the NA to help drug abusers stop using addictive drug substances. Presently, the most important individuals for NA are people suffering from drug addiction who are willing to stop using such substances. The group also uses the 12-step module to support individuals in stopping the use of drugs. Similarly, the milestones are based on those developed by the AA.
Similarly, the group also offers coins to individuals for every milestone met. For instance, those who achieve 24 hours of soberness are provided with a silver chip coin, while those who attain 30 days of soberness are provided with a red chip. Members who achieve sixty days of sobriety are given a gold chip, and those who achieve 90 days of sobriety are provided with an emerald chip (Narcotics Anonymous 6th Edition, 2018). The milestones go until a person achieves 1-year sobriety and is awarded bronze chips. The current status of the group is increased membership, and the group is perceived to have effective programs that support individuals to abstain from addictive drugs. In the future, the group envisages offering licensed residential treatment addiction treatment to its members and those who are yet to be members but suffer from drug addiction.
Meeting Structure and Function
The group’s meeting structure is organized into two primary types. These include open meetings as well as closed meetings. The open meetings are organized for everybody. In this case, every person is welcome to attend the open meetings, including the non-addicts. However, closed meetings are only organized for addicts (members) as well as those who think that they have a drug addiction problem. The meetings have varied formats; however, every meeting must have a devoted time for reading NA literature which involves matters concerning clean life as written by other members and for the members of the group (Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Incorporated, 2022). The chairperson chooses speakers for the meetings. This means that the leader of the meeting, who in this case is the chairperson, has the role of choosing speakers and deciding topics of discussion.
However, there are meetings where there is open sharing of opinions, and as such, every person has the chance to share their opinions and challenges. Success stories are determined through the level of achievement of milestones. In this case, individuals provided with chips after achieving certain milestones are invited to share their stories and how they have been able to achieve the milestones. To stop relapse, NA members are encouraged to practice honesty during meetings, become active in group meetings and programs as well as share with others challenges that may lead to their relapse.
AI-Anon
Brief History
AI-anon is a family group established to support individuals who have been affected by another person’s alcoholism nature. AI-Anon is regarded as an international organization and a worldwide fellowship offering recovery programs to friends and families of alcoholism. In essence, the programs are targeted at families and friends whose members are affected by alcoholism. Anne and Lois established the fellowship in the year 1951 (Al-Anon Family Group, 2018). Before the founding of the group families of alcoholics, they met to support each other. It is from the independent groups that Lois thought of consolidating the group as one to support the larger alcoholic families.
AI-Anon also adopts the 12-step program as that of the AA in supporting its members to recover from alcoholism (Al-Anon Family Group, 2018). Since its establishment, the group has been in operation for 71 years. For the group, the most important individuals are those who have been affected by alcoholics. The main milestone for AI-anon members is to stop a family member or friend from stopping drinking. Additionally, the group’s goal is to support friends and families of alcoholics who have been traumatized emotionally and give them an understanding (Meyers et al., 2021). Presently the status of the group has gained international recognition and has been able to attract members worldwide. Importantly, members are currently associated with less personal blame for their drinking friends and family members. In the future, the group envisages encouraging its members to focus more on themselves than alcoholics.
Meeting Structure and Foundation
AI-Anon meetings are structured into groups, districts, areas, and world service. Group meetings are conducted among the alateen members. The Alateen members meet in groups where group representatives are elected to represent a group at the district level. At the district level, the group representatives hold meetings where group issues and service activities are discussed. The district level regular events such as workshops and speaker meetings are held. Several districts make up an area. Representatives conduct regular area meetings. The representatives also vote on issues affecting their areas (Al-Anon family group, 2018). The World Service meetings involve conferences. Administrators take the leadership of the meetings and manage them meetings while the board of trustees oversees the world service meetings.
Addiction Therapy Groups
Brief History
An addiction therapy group was established to support people with addiction problems in recovering from drugs and alcoholism. The group allows people to share their experiences with others who have similar issues. Addiction therapy groups provide treatment to people in groups of 3-4 members (Lcsw, 2020). It is imperative to understand that addiction therapy groups are a type of counseling therapy that is used to treat psychological disorders emanating from substance and alcohol abuse. Most often, the therapy session involves meetings where one or more therapists are involved. The therapists work with several individuals who are treated for similar addiction issues.
Meeting structure and foundation
The meetings are structured into three to four members. The meetings are primarily treatment meetings that also include therapists who provide treatment to individuals who face similar addiction issues. The meetings occur once or twice a week and take approximately one to two hours. They are undertaken in patient settings where the meetings are perceived to be more effective.
Comparison and contrast
The support groups and the addiction therapy groups were found to have some similarities as well as differences. For instance, the similarity was seen when both the support groups and addiction therapy groups were conducted in groups regardless of the number of members per group. Similarly, it was realized that the meetings were aimed at supporting individuals with an addiction problem or who have suffered the impact of addiction. However, the difference was that in addiction therapy groups, the meetings were therapeutic and involved treatment, while the support groups involved sharing experiences and success stories and following the 12-step program. Additionally, support groups had highly organized meeting structures, while addiction therapy groups did not have a highly organized meeting structure
References
Al-Anon Family Group. (2018). The twelve traditions. Web.
Coleman, P. (2019). Privilege and Confidentiality in 12-Step Self-Help Programs. Journal of Legal Medicine, 26(4), 435–474.
Erickson, M. (2020). Alcoholics Anonymous most effective path to alcohol abstinence. Stanford Medicine. Web.
Humphreys K., Moos, Rudolf (2021). “Can encouraging substance abuse patients to participate in self-help groups reduce demand for health care? A quasi-experimental study”. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 3(6):41-58.
Kitchin, Heather A. (2020). Alcoholics Anonymous Discourse and Members’ Resistance in a Virtual Community: Exploring Tensions between Theory and Practice”. Contemporary Drug Problems.
Lcsw, B. K. (2020). Ten Great Therapy Groups: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Therapy Group Curriculum in an Easy-to-Follow Workbook Format. Independently published.
Meyers, R. J.; Apodaca, T. R.; Flicker, S. M.; Slesnick, N. (2021). “Evidence-based approaches for the treatment of substance abusers by involving family members”. The Family Journal. 10 (3): 281–288.
Narcotics Anonymous 6th Edition Softcover (6th ed.). (2018). Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Incorporated. (2022). A Spiritual Principle a Day Narcotics Anonymous. World Services.
Press, Clean Living. (2022). 12 Step Workbook: Twelve Steps Sobriety and Recovery Gifts, Anonymous, Narcotics, Addiction Alcoholics NA AA Self Help Journal with an Added 4th