One member shared his story of how he had been made to feel embarrassed at a supermarket by a woman who worked in his group home, and that he cried and felt extremely angry, but that he did not reach for a drink. Another member talked about how he had breached his sobriety three times recently, and that alcohol was an obsession for him and he was having a very hard time trying to stay sober. He stated it was hard for him to talk about it, and that he was a blackout drunk, and does not remember most of what happened during his recent episodes of drinking. A third member shared that he was happy to see nurses in attendance and thanked us for coming. This member had a bandage over his eye but did not disclose how it had come to be injured. I noticed that before each member spoke, no matter what they were going to say, they said their name followed by the word alcoholic, which I thought was interesting and a constant reminder of their purpose for meeting, as well as something that reminded everyone they were all equal and all there for the same reason, that they were struggling with alcoholism.
The group leader then stated it was time to start reading from the Big Book, which is a nickname they have for the book formally titled "Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism ". The book, written primarily by one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous William Wilson in 1939, describes how to recover from alcoholism using the "12 Steps ". The "12 Steps " involve the following: admitting that you cannot control your addiction or compulsion to drink, recognizing a higher power that can give you strength, examining your past errors with the help of a sponsor (a sponsor in this case being an experienced member who has succeeded in maintaining sobriety), making amends for these errors to the people you have wronged, learning to live a new life with new healthy behaviors, and a commitment to help others who suffer from alcoholism.
