Alcohol Anonymous Meeting
Daniella Levy
11/19/12
MH31
Ethnography
On Sunday November 18th, I attended my first alcohol anonymous open meeting at Gerritsen Beach. The church was called St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the session started at 7pm. I was actually very nervous going by myself, so I asked my best friend to come with me for support. This meeting occurred in the basement of the church. My best friend and I began walking down the stairs into the basement, and we already saw people sitting around in a circle. We grabbed our chairs, and sat with them, and for another few minutes, the place began to fill up quickly. I noticed there was a person in the middle of the room, who we later found out, was the chairperson. She was very nice, and dressed very proper. She began with reading the Alcohol Anonymous …show more content…
When I first came to the church, I was very nervous because it was a new environment for me, and I didn’t know anyone there. During the session, I became a little more comfortable. At the end of the meeting, everyone made me feel comfortable, and it was nice to hear everyone’s stories. What did surprise me though was that there were a lot of different ages. There were even some people who were close to my age, and people who were in their sixties. It showed me that anyone can have this problem, and even the older people may not know how to cope with this addiction. If I had clients who have alcohol problems, I would strongly encourage them to attend at least one Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. One benefit is that everything said at the meeting, stays at the meeting, and no one judges you at all because they are all going through similar problems. I would encourage my client to share his or her stories, and to let out all the emotions she or he has. Alcoholics Anonymous is also free, and everyone is welcome to attend. They value anonymity and also provide sponsors who can help guide alcoholics through the right
11/19/12
MH31
Ethnography
On Sunday November 18th, I attended my first alcohol anonymous open meeting at Gerritsen Beach. The church was called St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the session started at 7pm. I was actually very nervous going by myself, so I asked my best friend to come with me for support. This meeting occurred in the basement of the church. My best friend and I began walking down the stairs into the basement, and we already saw people sitting around in a circle. We grabbed our chairs, and sat with them, and for another few minutes, the place began to fill up quickly. I noticed there was a person in the middle of the room, who we later found out, was the chairperson. She was very nice, and dressed very proper. She began with reading the Alcohol Anonymous …show more content…
When I first came to the church, I was very nervous because it was a new environment for me, and I didn’t know anyone there. During the session, I became a little more comfortable. At the end of the meeting, everyone made me feel comfortable, and it was nice to hear everyone’s stories. What did surprise me though was that there were a lot of different ages. There were even some people who were close to my age, and people who were in their sixties. It showed me that anyone can have this problem, and even the older people may not know how to cope with this addiction. If I had clients who have alcohol problems, I would strongly encourage them to attend at least one Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. One benefit is that everything said at the meeting, stays at the meeting, and no one judges you at all because they are all going through similar problems. I would encourage my client to share his or her stories, and to let out all the emotions she or he has. Alcoholics Anonymous is also free, and everyone is welcome to attend. They value anonymity and also provide sponsors who can help guide alcoholics through the right