I went to my first AA meeting as an assignment for my Biobehavioral/Psychiatry class. It was like a party with a room full of people of all ages and all backgrounds, some looking like they lived on the streets and others wearing suits. Whenever someone introduced themselves, they said "Hi, I'm Name, and I'm an Alcoholic." The room immediately belched, "Hi Name!" We listened to a few speakers who had very inspiring stories. The meeting felt like church, but actually warmer. The 12 steps that they emphasized (listed below) made me think there was Christian tradition behind the program. What if we followed the mindset from these steps and introduced ourselves as, "Hi, I'm Rachel, and I'm a sinner" believing that I am powerless over my sin and I am in desperate need of a savior who has already saved me. How humbling to constantly remind myself that I am the same as everyone else- prone to sin and powerless without Christ. Another great idea AA has is "sponsors," where they are paired up with a more seasoned member. God's power, and our humility, fellowship, and education! We need all of them. I am sold on the group and will highly recommend this to any of my future patients.
The Twelve Steps
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become
unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to
sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we
understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature
of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make
amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do
so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly
admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with
God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us
and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to
carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our
affairs.
Taken from http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/smf-121_en.pdf
