For this experience I attend two different types of NA meetings, one speaker and one book study. This time I attended one speaker meeting in my town and one book study meeting in a town thirty minutes from me. Both of which were open meetings. The speaker meeting was a large group of many twenty five to thirty attendees while the book study meeting had less than ten attendees. For both meetings, various individuals, who I am assuming to be “trusted servants” in each group, read aloud the various suggested reading of N.A.: a preamble or mission, the 12 steps, and traditions were all read aloud at the beginning of group (Narcotics Anonymous World Services, 2018). Both groups seemed to follow a similar call and response for some reading, where its members knew the correct responses to say aloud. Due to the smaller size in the second meeting, the leader even asked me to read one of the readings out loud which made me feel very much apart of the group and what they were doing.
For the second meeting I attended, the first thirty minutes were given to reviewing the 12 steps and traditions like the other group, and then reading a passage from the book Living Sober, which is a self-help book written by Alcoholics Anonymous. The passage spoke about the freedom for addicts to finally learn who they are without drugs. The final part of the meeting left open for people to share or comment on the reading. Most individuals shared something from the reading that stood out to them and their current struggles with this.
The individual that stood out to me the most in this meeting was a man that was working on reaching 90 days sober. The passage he shared that stood out to him referred to addicts “being dramatic” about the little things but being able to deal really well with bigger tragedies. This individual felt his current little things were having to take care of his sick mom, clean the house, and work that he felt he was being dramatic about. He spoke that he felt the urge to watch pornography, which is normally a trigger for him to use drugs. In this case he avoided watching the porn and came to the meeting we were all attending. A couple of things came up for me here, first I was struck with how uncomfortable I was with a man speaking about watching pornography, but I then put that feeling aside to realize he was sharing because that was a trigger for him. And second, I was struck with just how important these meetings are to their attendees, helping them in those moment where they might make a choice that might affect their sobriety in a negative way.
Overall I felt that both of the models in how each group was run was successful. If I have a client in the future who is struggling with drugs and alcohol I would definitely refer them to local NA meetings. I think it would be important to occasionally attend these meetings to keep updated on practices and be able to speak to my clients from experience. This experience with NA was especially important to me as I have a family member who is currently struggling with drugs and alcohol. It has created greater empathy within me as well as greater knowledge of recourses for them.
References
Narcotics Anonymous World Services. (2018). Information about na. In Narcotics Anonymous. Retrieved from https://www.na.org/admin/include/spaw2/uploads/pdf/PR/InfoAboutNA_Nov2018.pdf
ErikaA DB 200 words
I had a challenge finding NA meetings to attend, due to the closing of a substance abuse facility in my area. I attempted to attend 3 meetings before I was able to find one that was actually holding a meeting. This caused me some anxiety as I had been unaware of the facility closing until I arrived at the second meeting that I found.
The first meeting I attended had a very different feel than the AA meetings I have been to. This group had quite a bit of banter between the members which gave the impression that they knew each other well. According to the information that I had found regarding NA, there are typically 2 types of meetings, speaker meetings or discussion meetings (Narcotics Anonymous World Services, 2014). This group had a different take on what I had seen in an AA discussion meeting. In AA, the group had read out of the AA Big Book or the Twelve Steps book (Alcoholics Anonymous, n.d.), but in this NA group they did an activity they called “Pick a Stick.” Instead of discussing a reading, each member picked a popsicle stick out of a jar that had phrases or words on it related to drug use history or challenges faced. Topics that were discussed during this meeting ranged from reckless behavior, old playmates, old playgrounds, and self-pity, just to name a few. It was interesting to hear some of the stories of how these members avoided places and people that were associated with their drug use. They also did not discuss specific experiences regarding their drug use but kept these topics more in present tense and comparisons to their old life.
At the second meeting I attended, the discussion became centered around the closing of the treatment facility. This was a smaller group, and those there often expressed concern for how they were going to meet their court-ordered requirements now that that facility was closed. This discussion reminded me of concerns I had while trying to attend the first meetings. At the time I thought I had received misinformation, and I wondered if anyone who was just out of treatment or trying to come clean was failing to find meetings that he or she needed to stay clean. Though no one expressed this concern, there certainly were other ramifications from the closing of this facility, that was very sudden and unexpected and clearly causing stress and anxiety.
The only other thing that I noticed that was significant, was at the AA meetings, many people told me that “AA works.” I received no such comments at these NA meetings, in fact, one man told me that the only way to determine if NA helped a person was if that person died clean, meaning that they did not relapse and overdose. This was very sobering for me.
References
Alcoholics Anonymous. (n.d.). AA meeting format. Retrieved from www.correct.state.ak.us/pnp/pdf/AAMtgFromat.pdf
Narcotics Anonymous World Services. (2014). An introduction to NA meetings. Van Nuys, CA: Narcotics Anonymous World Services.
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