Reflections of an AA Meeting Attendance by a Non-Alcoholic
Support Meeting Reflection I attended an online Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. There were twenty-six participants there, including myself; two of which were moderators. I had actually logged on early, as is my habit attending seminars, and observed the other participants chatting beforehand. I was surprised by the lack of seriousness surrounding this whole process. The group members were not somber, in fact they were displaying behaviors and conversations typical of any adult chat room.
Meeting Setting: Virtual
The meeting itself was done in a chat room style. My expectation was that it would be similar to seminar, or a CE class, but it more closely resembled internet chat. There …show more content…
These included not interrupting others as they shared, and which characters to type to raise your hand to “speak” and using GA to announce that you are done with your statement (go ahead). The responsibility statement and serenity prayer were given, and the topic for the night was step seven: humility. Participants would announce their desire to speak, then slowly type their thoughts. This was followed by thank yous, and went on as only four people had anything to say. The main moderator made several attempts to elicit further responses from people, but there were only the four. Both moderators shared their opinions and experiences concerning the topic and closed the meeting with warnings that whatever is said in this meeting is to be left as such, not discussed outside of the meeting. There was also thanks encouragement, and prayer to close the …show more content…
There is an appearance of being able to discuss personal issues more openly (and perhaps more quickly) than in non-anonymous situations. Being anonymous also protects the individual from social judgement, reputation loss, stigma, and privacy violation. An advantage for the group itself is that attendees may come because of genuine interest rather than advertising or promotion.
Disadvantages of this anonymity could be the inability to forge a true connection with others, and because of comorbidity issues perhaps not being granted access to services they may need and not be aware of (such as mental health services). There is also the danger of an attendee having suicidal thoughts and the anonymity prevents follow-up or further intervention as attendance is often
Support Meeting Reflection I attended an online Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. There were twenty-six participants there, including myself; two of which were moderators. I had actually logged on early, as is my habit attending seminars, and observed the other participants chatting beforehand. I was surprised by the lack of seriousness surrounding this whole process. The group members were not somber, in fact they were displaying behaviors and conversations typical of any adult chat room.
Meeting Setting: Virtual
The meeting itself was done in a chat room style. My expectation was that it would be similar to seminar, or a CE class, but it more closely resembled internet chat. There …show more content…
These included not interrupting others as they shared, and which characters to type to raise your hand to “speak” and using GA to announce that you are done with your statement (go ahead). The responsibility statement and serenity prayer were given, and the topic for the night was step seven: humility. Participants would announce their desire to speak, then slowly type their thoughts. This was followed by thank yous, and went on as only four people had anything to say. The main moderator made several attempts to elicit further responses from people, but there were only the four. Both moderators shared their opinions and experiences concerning the topic and closed the meeting with warnings that whatever is said in this meeting is to be left as such, not discussed outside of the meeting. There was also thanks encouragement, and prayer to close the …show more content…
There is an appearance of being able to discuss personal issues more openly (and perhaps more quickly) than in non-anonymous situations. Being anonymous also protects the individual from social judgement, reputation loss, stigma, and privacy violation. An advantage for the group itself is that attendees may come because of genuine interest rather than advertising or promotion.
Disadvantages of this anonymity could be the inability to forge a true connection with others, and because of comorbidity issues perhaps not being granted access to services they may need and not be aware of (such as mental health services). There is also the danger of an attendee having suicidal thoughts and the anonymity prevents follow-up or further intervention as attendance is often