Narcotics Anonymous Meeting Research Paper

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Narcotics Anonymous Meeting On Tuesday September twentieth, I attended my first narcotics anonymous (NA) meeting to observe the process of how a NA meeting is conducted and what it entails. I expected the NA meeting to be held in an authorized medical building or church. It was not. Recovery and Beyond functions out of a small, run down residence off West Mahoney Avenue in Mesa. There were a handful of people outside smoking cigarettes and talking on their cellphones before the meeting, although none were conversing with each other and stood alone. As I went inside, I was greeted by a nice gentleman that told me to sit wherever I would like; with no additional questions asked. Since I arrived a few minutes early, I was able to watch them set up the room. There were three rows of about ten chairs on each side of the room facing each other, and a desk by the front door where the two leaders of the meeting sat. The man passed out the book, “It works: How and Why: The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Narcotics Anonymous” written by World Service Officer on every other seat along with five laminated short readings that were titled: Who is an Addict? What is the NA Program? Why are we Here? How it Works, and The Twelve Traditions of NA written by Narcotics Anonymous. The meeting was started by going around the room and each person stated, “Hello, I am an addict and my name is ‘x’”. Everyone in the room would respond with, “Welcome ‘x’”. After that was finished, one person began reading Who is an Addict? An excerpt that stuck out to me was, “We are people in the grip of a continuing and progressive illness whose ends are always the same: jails, institutions, and death” (Narcotics Anonymous, 1986). The NA program is a nonprofit fellowship open to anyone who currently has or has had a drug problem in the past. The meetings are held in an environment where there is no judgement and all members should feel safe to discuss their life experiences. Why are we here? The statement I liked most from this reading was, “After coming to NA we realized we were sick people. We suffered from a disease from which there is no known cure. It can, however, be arrested at some point, and recovery is then possible.” (Narcotics Anonymous, 1986). The How it works reading discussed the twelve steps of the narcotics anonymous program. …show more content…
The first step involves the member admitting to their addiction. The second, is when they come to believe that there is a higher power to help them get through their addiction. Third states that they will turn over their lives to the higher power, God. The fourth step involves analyzing themselves and their morals. In the fifth step they admit to their wrong doings. Sixth, they allow God to rid themselves of their flawed character. Seventh, God will rid their past failures. In the eighth step, they make a list of all people who they have harmed while they were using, including themselves. In the tenth step, they are continuing to improve their character and admit their wrong doings. In the eleventh step, they turn to prayer and meditation to connect with God for his knowledge and power. In twelfth step, they reflect on all that they have learned and practice those previous eleven steps in all things that they do. My favorite quote of the night was said after the twelfth step. “This sounds like a big order, and we can’t do it all at once. We didn’t become addicted in one day, so remember—easy does it” (Narcotics Anonymous, 1986). It is a motivational motto to live by and can be applicable to all situations in life. The twelve traditions of NA reading are similar to the twelve steps of NA. I got the impression that the traditions are a set of rules that each active member is expected to abide by in order to stay true to themselves and their fellows. The first tradition is to want to be in recovery. The second is that the leaders who run the meetings can be trusted and do not pose as an authoritative threat. The third explains the only requirement of NA is to want to stop using. The

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