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Support Group Summary
Support Group Summary
Lyndsey G. Harris
Department of Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Liberty University
COUC691: Substance Abuse Counseling
Dr. Charlotte Crosland
July 3rd, 2021
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Support Group Summary
Support Group Summary
There are many available support groups around today; however, what are their
differences and where does one start? Support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA),
Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and Al-Anon are all similar and focus on a 12-step type program
that groups together individuals based upon their similar struggles to help them cope. Although
there are support groups outside of addictions, such as grief counseling support groups. In this
paper however, I will summarize Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and
Al-Anon support groups. These self-help groups are voluntary, and the members share a common
problem and meet with the purpose of sharing mutual support (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). This
paper will summarize the history, structure, a brief overview, and a personal observation made by
attending each of these aforementioned groups.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was founded in 1935 by two men, one of which was a
former member of the New York Oxford Group, which gave forth to the Christian values of AA
today (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). Although today, Alcoholics Anonymous is a nonreligious and
nonprofessional self-help organization and form of treatment, it was founded on Christian values.
As commonly mentioned by members within the groups, AA does mention and pray to a “higher
power”. Today, AA meetings focus not only on finding sobriety from alcohol, but also going
through a 12-step process, like the salvation process in realizing that we are powerless alone, we
need a higher power, we are sinful, we need forgiveness, we have wronged others and need to
ask for forgiveness and acknowledging that God can fulfill this void in our life (Capuzzi &
Stauffer, 2020). Many AA programs will also reward the participants with chips for completing
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Support Group Summary
their sobriety goals, but the biggest praise they receive comes from the support of their fellow
addicts who are also recovering.
Brief History of AA
In 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was founded by Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith and
Bill Wilson (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). Bill Wilson was a former member of the New York
Oxford Group, which was a nondenominational lead group of Christians who were committed to
overcoming the problem of addictions such as alcohol (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). This is most
likely where the group received its influence of religion, even though their purpose was share
sobriety with other alcoholics (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). One term that you in in AA meetings
today is the “Big Book” that was started by the first one hundred members journaling their
struggles and victories as to what led them to sobriety upon prompting by the founders (Capuzzi
& Stauffer, 2020). Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book) was first published just 4 years after
the start of the group, which has all the well-known steps and traditions that are still currently
used even today (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). Today, each group is “self-supporting, not-for-
profit” and “not affiliated with the professional community” as a support group that offers just
that, support for the members who need it (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020).
Although the originality of these meetings were meant only for the recovery of the
alcoholic addicted community, the model of these groups has since grown tremendously.
Throughout the years, the meetings have grown, and treatment facilities have partnered with AA
groups, making it a leader in the recovery field for the alcoholic (Trub & Campbell, 2018). Since
the beginning other 12-step programs have emerged such as NA (Narcotics Anonymous), Al-
Anon and other support groups, AA is still the leading program for addictions (Trub & Campbell,
2018). Wilson and Smith started a whole movement when they founded AA some 86 years ago.
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Support Group Summary
Meeting Structure and Function
Even today Alcoholics Anonymous still holds tight to the traditions and steps that were
founded in 1935, including the ideal that health is of importance in the recovering addict. Dr.
Smith, as a physician incorporated and made the education of our physical health just as
important as the psychological health in the addict. AA most closely relates to the disease model
of addiction. The disease model defines that addiction is “viewed as the primary disease rather
than secondary to another condition” (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020 pg.11). The disease model
believes that once an individual has a disease, there is no treatment that will enable the individual
to “use” again without reverting to the same problematic behaviors, therefore, abstinence is the
goal for an addict, especially in AA (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). According to Barnett et al.,
(2018), “the brain disease model of addiction (BDMA), characterizes addiction as a primary,
chronic disease” and this evidence is given strong support from the National Institute of Drug
Abuse and American Society of Addiction (Barnett et al., 2018). In his research, Barnett (2018)
discovered that the growth of AA in 1935 has “widely cited The Disease Concept of Alcoholism”.
For these reasons above, an addict never refers to themselves as “recovered”, rather “recovering”
(Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020).
Personal Observations of the Meetings
From my personal experience attending an AA meeting, I first off must say that I was in
awe of the connection of this large group. I attended an AA meeting on Friday, June 25th, 2021, at
10am through intherooms.com. In this online meeting, my camera and microphone were not on,
however, I did choose to attend as an “ally”. In this meeting, although the facilitator was a
nonprofessional, I feel as though she did an excellent job displaying several counseling skills that
we have learned and used a great deal of motivational interviewing. The facilitator did an
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Support Group Summary
excellent job using reflection of meaning by summarizing and asking clarifying questions after a
long period, 3 minutes in this case of hearing an individual talk (Young, 2017).
I also saw other skills from this lay helper facilitator in the AA meeting such as the use of
the OARS acronym (Miller & Rollnick, 2013) where the facilitator talked about step 4 “Made a
searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves” (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020, pg. 253). The
facilitator shared a little lesson based upon this step to the over 200 participants in this meeting,
yet, ended with the challenge of being the process of “self-forgiveness”. The facilitator did
utilize a great transition with challenging each person to consider “In what ways can you start to
forgive yourself this week?”, making use of an open-ended question. After everyone who wanted
to shared their testimony or thoughts, she praised and affirmed them. As previous mentioned, the
facilitator did an excellent job at giving reflection of meaning to the content of the individual in a
brief manner, not interrupting from the agenda of the purpose of the meeting, however, she also
did not dismiss the individual’s contributions either. In closing, the facilitator did an excellent job
appointing people to close in reciting a prayer and summarizing all that was said and learned in
this meeting. Lastly, and most importantly, this facilitator stood out to me the most out of all the
three groups that I attended due to her use of immediacy. This facilitator saw in the chat that one
female was struggling with being two days sober and struggling with craving. The facilitator
appointed females to go and talk with her and come alongside and support her in this time of
need and I am personally so thankfully that I was able to see how that situation was handled with
such grace and gentleness.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
Brief History of NA
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Support Group Summary
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) was established in 1953 and was patterned after Alcoholics
Anonymous (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). NA was also founded on the same 12-steps and
foundations that AA was founded on and they focus on “personal growth, reduction of
egocentrism, supporting others in their recovery journey and a life guided by spiritual principles”
(Dekkers & Vanderplasschen, 2020). NA is similar to AA in that it is free, anyone can join, and it
offers nonprofessional guidance. NA does differ from AA as it was founded by James Patrick
Kinnon from California, and it was not until the publication of the basic text that is used by the
program in 1983 that the program began to establish itself and grow (DeLucia et al., 2016).
Meeting Structure and Function
The meeting structure of NA was much like it’s sister organization Alcoholics
Anonymous in that it uses the same 12-Traditions and 12-Steps, with just the wordage altered
from “alcohol” to “chemicals” to fit the program better (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). These
meetings are still designed to be a mutual support system to achieve abstinence through a support
system of a mutual shared problem (DeLucia et al., 2016). The groups are also nonprofessional,
and the leadership is usually from addicts who have been through the program themselves. Also,
much like AA, all members of NA work on the same 12-steps, even if it takes some members
longer than others to accomplish (Trub & Campbell, 2018). Prayers are also recited at the end of
each NA meeting and are also usually posted so that members can use them to recite when they
feel as though they need extra support, much like the AA meetings.
Personal Observations of the Meetings
I had the opportunity to attend an NA meeting on the 26th of June at 9am. It was much
like the AA meeting, where there were over 100 individuals logged onto the meeting through
intherooms.com. The facilitator of the group still reviewed rules at the beginning of the meeting
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Support Group Summary
and recited a prayer at the closing. This meeting differed from the AA meeting that I attended,
because everyone was not just addicted to alcohol, but a variety of substances. One male in the
groups spoke about his time served as a U.S. Marine for 8 years and was actively deployed for 5
of those years. This male shared how they trained so hard there that they were put on steroids and
although he was discharged with a health condition, he still wanted to work out just as hard while
he was out, so he continued to get steroids. He shared how he fell into major depression after
leaving the Marines because he felt “empty” and that his life was now “pointless”. He shared
how he has gotten help before, however, now that his 3-year relationship ended. The male ended
his story with how he has thankfully been free from all drugs for a year, however, he gets high
from sex and going to the gym. I was thankful to have learned so many stories like this one,
however, this one spoke to me the most.
Al-Anon
Brief History of Al-Anon
Al-Anon was founded in 1948 by the wife of one of the cofounders using the same 12-
steps and 12-Traditions as her husband used in the AA meetings (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). Al-
Anon was created as the wives would often wait for their husbands to attend the AA meetings,
and while they waited, they would discuss their own struggles and problems (Capuzzi &
Stauffer, 2020). Al-Anon helps members adjust their thoughts and behaviors in dealing with the
alcoholic in their life (Young & Timko, 2015). In Al-Anon, it is much more difficult to track
success because termination with an alcoholic cannot always be deemed “successful” (Young &
Timko, 2015). Each relationship can be different for different family members who attend Al-
Anon, such as some may choose that the best solution is cutting off that family member who is
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Support Group Summary
an addict, some endure the consequences and remain involved with them and some set clear
boundaries with the addict (Young & Timko, 2015).
Meeting Structure and Function
For the most part, most of the session for Al-Anon members is still the same as it would
be in an AA or NA meeting. Some of the prayers that are recited in each of these types of
meetings may have different meaning for those who attend Al-Anon, such as the Serenity Prayer.
To an addict this prayer would remind them that they cannot control how the addiction has
affected them, however, for the family members of these addicts that attend Al-Anon, this prayer
helps to remind them that they cannot control the addict (Young & Timko, 2015). The meeting
structure still involves rules to be stated, the reading of the 12-Steps and 12-Traditions and time
for members to share their struggles with the group for support. There is also still a group
facilitator in each of these groups, and sometimes the facilitator is a former addict themselves,
but is currently or has previously helped a loved one to walk through their addiction. One
important principle that each of these meetings holds true is that the members are to take and
“face each day, one day at a time” (Young & Timko, 2015).
Personal Observations of the Meetings
The final meeting that I attended was an Al-Anon meeting, which was different than the
other two. I think I had this pre-conceived notion that all the individuals that attended this group
wouldn’t be recovering addicts, however, there were many who were a recovering addict in some
shape or form. This was an interesting connection for me because it is like when someone comes
to Christ, they want others to have that same joy and light too, however this is addictions, and
they want their loved ones free from addictions. I still attended this group online through
intherooms.com on July 26th at 11am. The chairperson for this group was not a former addict, but
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Support Group Summary
rather had a family member of someone that had been through the AA program. The rules and
expectations were still presented at the beginning of the meeting and still, 3 minutes were given
for whoever wanted to share. There were over 100 members at this meeting, some were even
couples. One couple shared their experience with their nephew and his struggle with heroin and
opioids. The couple expressed how he didn’t have a great upbringing and how the nephew’s dad
(wife of the couple’s brother) died several years ago and how things spiraled out of control after
this event. They stated how they thought their family member was off drugs at this time,
however, do to his disability from a car accident that led him to become addicted to opioids, he
refuses to try to get a job and will often ask for money from them. They began attending these
meetings to help them stick to boundaries with their nephew and help themselves in cutting him
off from asking for money.
Conclusion
Each support group may have their own general focus; however, they all share the same
common values and function mostly the same. Each of the groups use the same 12-Steps and
traditions as the original AA meetings. Attending each of these meetings and learning more about
each one has certainly opened my eyes to more of the substance abuse aspects of the counseling
field. It was super helpful to learn that there are self-help groups for the family members of
addicts so that they can receive the support that they need as well. These programs have been
super insightful to the epidemics occurring all over the world today and just how much of a
burden this can be for both the addict and the family members. My eyes have certainly been
opened to seeing how nonprofessional self-help groups such as these can be effective and useful
instruments in the restoration of so many lives affected by substance abuse.
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Support Group Summary
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Support Group Summary
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