AA Meeting in Mt. Joy

To start off, the experience I had at this meeting was quite interesting. Having a dad who attended these meetings as a requirement in order to be put on a transplant list, he would always elaborate on how they were, what he talked about, etc. However, I never expected the interactions to be so intimate. The amount of trust I encountered in this environment was phenomenal. I found it even more interesting how they let me into their circle and didn't mind that I was there.

I would say that all people at this meeting were between 25-40 years old. There were 12 men there and 5 women. The majority of which were white. I inquired with a few of them how long they have been at this particular AA program and all of which had been at the same program for over 3 months. The meeting was run by a supervisor who I didn't really get to interact with other than my introduction to her when I got there. The supervisor started off by asking if anybody had anything to share and introduced me as the guest for the evening. There was about a 35-40 minute session of experiences they have had since their last meeting. It varied from relapse, support, and trying times. The variety of stories in which they told were very intriguing. They seemed very trusting in each other and didn't have a problem opening up with the group (even with me there). At one point, I was asked by one of the participants if I have had any experiences or have been affected by alcohol. I then took the time to elaborate on my experiences with my father and his struggle with alcoholism. I felt at this point they saw me more as just a student, and that perhaps they could relate to the feelings I felt. After this, I felt more apt to chime in when stuff was being said. I believe I participated four to five times throughout the rest of the session. The last 20-25 minutes were spent discussing goals for the following week. They included goals to recovery, preventing relapse, etc. Overall, I found this to be an amazing experience considering I was very nervous to go to begin with.

Sometimes the difference between a happy life and a sad life is often one step away

Personally, everybody in this meeting seemed to be being helped by the meetings. None of them had ill-feelings towards being there and all seemed to be fighting hard to beat their addiction. Although it was a small sample, it seemed as if their intentions were genuine. The discussions were intimate and the amount of trust in the room seemed to be very high. I believe the supervisor has a nice format in place and a core group of participants who are open to helping others and themselves.

 I would say that this all relates to the material in class about addictions. I saw the sides of addiction and the struggles that they were encountering. Knowing what my dad went through, it is nothing to be taken lightly. I think one of the fundamental things about addiction we don't understand is why we just CAN'T quit. From my experiences and having the experience to go to this AA meeting, I can say I understand how hard it can be. Also, it does seem like the AA sections in our book seem to closely parallel the one used in practice at the AA meeting I went to. They are very intimate and trusting, yet there still seems to be work to be done. It's a process, one in which people battle throughout their lifetime.


This experience gave me an appreciation to people battling their addictions and the steps they take to better themselves and be a positive influence on the people around them. These meetings seem to start to provide a light at the end of the tunnel through the battle of addiction.