Reflections on a 12-Step Group Meeting
This essay is a reflection on my observation of how a group interacts with each other. The 12-step meeting I attended was Overeater’s Anonymous (OA). OA uses the same Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions as Alcoholics Anonymous, the words are changed from “alcoholic” to “compulsive overeater”. The meeting I went to had seven people in attendance even with this small of a group it was definitely a diverse group. All seven attendees were women whose ages ranged from a young college student to an elderly homemaker, there was a middle age professional (just left the office type), and a good old ranch gal boot wearing, hair in a braid ranch women. I was a bit nervous about being there but someone patted the seat next to herself and I immediately felt welcomed.
The type of meeting was secondary; it was scheduled to last one hour and meets every Monday evening. While attendance is not mandatory the theme throughout the meeting was by attending you will find strength and hope for recovery. The meeting I attended was an open meeting. The meeting started with a member who stated “I am Mary, a compulsive eater and leader for this meeting”, she led the group in the serenity prayer. After this, different members read, there was a variety of readings which reminded me of going to the catholic church, everyone (except me) knew what to say, what to do, and when to do it. Afterwards, the person leading the meeting asked the newcomers to introduce themselves, I did.
After the introduction the minutes from the last meeting were read by the group’s treasurer, this was the first role I could identify in the group. The treasurer took the task role of facilitator. After the reading of the minutes the leader asked for comments. One member asked if there could be another vote on changing the meeting time from 5:30 pm to 7:30pm, she started stating why and the treasurer cut her off by saying we put that issue to vote last week and it was passed to remain 5:30. The
The type of meeting was secondary; it was scheduled to last one hour and meets every Monday evening. While attendance is not mandatory the theme throughout the meeting was by attending you will find strength and hope for recovery. The meeting I attended was an open meeting. The meeting started with a member who stated “I am Mary, a compulsive eater and leader for this meeting”, she led the group in the serenity prayer. After this, different members read, there was a variety of readings which reminded me of going to the catholic church, everyone (except me) knew what to say, what to do, and when to do it. Afterwards, the person leading the meeting asked the newcomers to introduce themselves, I did.
After the introduction the minutes from the last meeting were read by the group’s treasurer, this was the first role I could identify in the group. The treasurer took the task role of facilitator. After the reading of the minutes the leader asked for comments. One member asked if there could be another vote on changing the meeting time from 5:30 pm to 7:30pm, she started stating why and the treasurer cut her off by saying we put that issue to vote last week and it was passed to remain 5:30. The