12 Step Program

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A Personal Perspective on the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step Program November 15, 2013 ABSTRACT This is my personal perspective after paying a visit to the Alcoholics Anonymous group on the Woodbridge District 28, off Old Bridge Road at 8 pm. Friday October 25th 2013. This was an open meeting led by a gentleman in his 50’s who professed to be a recovered alcoholic who has been clean for over18 years. My opinion is that the 12 step program can be effective as a social support for some people in overcoming alcoholism , but there also is a need to combine it with treatment methods such as psychotherapy in order for the treatment to have a lasting effect. Since there are variations…show more content…
In a sense the goal of the 12 step program goes behold just abstaining from drinking alcohol. It aims at bringing about change in the thinking pattern of the alcoholic "to bring about recovery from alcoholism through a spiritual awakening. A spiritual awakening is achieved by taking the Twelve Steps”, and sobriety is furthered by volunteering for AA and regular attendance at AA meetings or contact with AA members.Members were encouraged to find an experienced fellow alcoholic, called a sponsor, to help them understand and follow the AA program. For a sponsor, preference is given to someone who has had experience with 12 step program, of the same sex and is unlikely to impose personal views on the one been sponsored. Following the helper therapy principle, sponsors in AA benefit as much, if not more, form forming their relationship than do those they sponsor. Helping behaviors correlate with…show more content…
It is free and easily accessible. With those religious beliefs, it offers to tap into this resource to affect a positive change in behavior. There are many stories of people who have recovered using the program. My visit brought to my attention that there are folks who go into relapse even decades after dropping the habit. Another eye opener was the extremely loose structure of the organization and how it has managed to survive in spite on this. Another striking thing was a group of people who showed up there not because there wanted to but because they wanted to get out of some legal problem. Seeing the number of members smoking outside who appeared to be chain smokers make me question if one vice was just being suppressed for another. My take is that the 12 step program has some advantages of group therapy sections such as those of the Yalom factors, however, it is not for everyone, and with some people it may serve a purpose at a certain stage but can get dysfunctional at another. People with social anxiety problems and depression, and others who cannot relate to a group for one reason or the other such as religious beliefs, gender and race should find another modality or group. Since the structure is highly informal, and information passed around may not always be the best, it will be advisable to combine 12 step programs with some amount of formal therapy for folks with serious addiction problems. Though,
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