Alcoholic Anonymous and Al-Anon Meetings
Alcoholic Anonymous and Al-Anon Groups
Nicole P. Thompson
SWK-339
Coker College
Professor: Jean D. Keefe
April 13, 2009
Abstract
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Al-Anon groups have helped a lot of people become sober, and to deal with an alcoholic family member. It takes a lot for a person to first admit to having a drinking problem, and then share their experiences with a room full of people. If they want help, that is what they have to do. Research on two AA meetings provided a lot of knowledge and understanding. Alcoholic Anonymous and Al-Anon Groups
The purpose of this research paper was to attend two support group meetings and share my experiences. The meetings that were to be attended were an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting and an Al-Anon meeting. Being that there are not any Al-Anon meetings in our city, two AA meetings could be used for research instead. Alcoholics Anonymous was started by Bill W. and Dr. Bob in Akron, Ohio in 1935. Bill W., who was fighting his own battle against drinking, learned that helping other alcoholics was the key to maintaining his own sobriety (http://alcoholism.about.com). That belief is where The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous derived from. Bill sought out to find another alcoholic. In doing so, he met a surgeon named Dr. Bob who for years had been fighting a battle with drinking. They became close friends and began helping other alcoholics.
They began helping alcoholics one by one in Dr. Bob’s house. It took four years to get the first 100 alcoholics sober. After the publication in 1939 of the group’s “text book” Alcoholics Anonymous, the development of AA was rapid (http://alcoholism.about.com).
Over 100,000 people had become sober by 1951 with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, and over one million copies of The Big Book had been issued. AA continued to grow and has become worldwide.
On November 16, Dr. Bob died, and on January 24, 1971, Bill W. died. Their work still helps people
Nicole P. Thompson
SWK-339
Coker College
Professor: Jean D. Keefe
April 13, 2009
Abstract
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Al-Anon groups have helped a lot of people become sober, and to deal with an alcoholic family member. It takes a lot for a person to first admit to having a drinking problem, and then share their experiences with a room full of people. If they want help, that is what they have to do. Research on two AA meetings provided a lot of knowledge and understanding. Alcoholic Anonymous and Al-Anon Groups
The purpose of this research paper was to attend two support group meetings and share my experiences. The meetings that were to be attended were an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting and an Al-Anon meeting. Being that there are not any Al-Anon meetings in our city, two AA meetings could be used for research instead. Alcoholics Anonymous was started by Bill W. and Dr. Bob in Akron, Ohio in 1935. Bill W., who was fighting his own battle against drinking, learned that helping other alcoholics was the key to maintaining his own sobriety (http://alcoholism.about.com). That belief is where The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous derived from. Bill sought out to find another alcoholic. In doing so, he met a surgeon named Dr. Bob who for years had been fighting a battle with drinking. They became close friends and began helping other alcoholics.
They began helping alcoholics one by one in Dr. Bob’s house. It took four years to get the first 100 alcoholics sober. After the publication in 1939 of the group’s “text book” Alcoholics Anonymous, the development of AA was rapid (http://alcoholism.about.com).
Over 100,000 people had become sober by 1951 with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, and over one million copies of The Big Book had been issued. AA continued to grow and has become worldwide.
On November 16, Dr. Bob died, and on January 24, 1971, Bill W. died. Their work still helps people
References: http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/history. Retrieved March 11, 2009. http://www.al-anon-suffolk/ny.org/history. Retrieved March 11, 2009.