Personal Experience at Alcoholics Anonumous Term Paper

Personal Experience at Alcoholics Anonumous - Term Paper Example This was accomplished by having the attendees share their unique stories about how alcoholism had affected their lives, opening the door for other group participants to offer either condolences or shared sympathy. Throughout the meeting, elements of altruism were present, which is giving members a sense of self esteem by allowing others to offer their help and/or opinion for those who were obviously troubled by alcoholism and how it had caused dishonor at the personal or family level (hanbleceya.com, n.d.). Individuals shared stories about being put before the court system in front of their peers and felt indignity or how they had lashed out at their children while under the influence of alcohol. This shared forum seemed to give the more troubled participants a sense of honor and self-respect rather than embarrassment. Development of socializing techniques were also part of the group curriculum, which was apparent by drawing out discussion from those that were more reserved about sharing their stories. This technique involves â€Å"creating an environment that fosters adaptive and effective communication† (agpa.org, 2007, para.5). There were at least two people that the researcher could recognize, through body language and more reserved behaviors, that they did not want to be attending the group meeting. The leader forced social discussion from these individuals and remind them that the goal of the meeting was to promote inclusion rather than segregation. Imitative behavior was part of this philosophy by finding confidence to share openly by modeling support from their peers. With this also came cohesiveness as on several occasions the leader reminded the group that they were accepted and their value justified as worthwhile human beings. Several individuals showed signs of catharsis, relief of their own feelings of guilt regarding how alcoholism had