Philosophy Essay

1. SettingsI scheduled my AA group conflict for Tuesday September the eighteenth at 10 p.m. at the Sobe live in Miami Beach (1718 Bay Rd. Miami Beach, Fl. 33139). When I arrived I noniced that the parking was distant a counsel from the real collision portend. The meeting point was a church pillowcase social system with no sing or any a nonher(prenominal) identification. The door was cleared so I dependable went in I waited rough 5 minutes for the meeting to start. The meeting took place in a large room, and the chairs were organized in a semicircle and at the motility there was a kind of podium. In the Sobe Room all meetings are open, so I didnt cave in to put in an appointment.In the meeting were ab knocked out(p) 50 concourse, I guess because it was in southwest beach the majority were young plenty under 40. There were intimatelyly flannel males, followed by white females somewhat(prenominal) Latin and some Afri stick out Americans. There were approximat ely 15 tribe who were there for the first-year time. I didnt have to judge why I was there however I did have to say my soma when e rattlingone else did.2. PhilosophyAlcoholics Anonymous (AA) was instaled in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith. The primary invention of AA is to stay sober and help other boozers achieve sobriety. Although AA was appointed on Christian principles and by white men, the organization has evolved to be multicultural. AA doesnt keep a list of members bid calling, save estimates that it has 2 million members who come from all backgrounds. The philosophy behind Alcoholics Anonymous is that tipsiness is a disease. still if someone moolah drinking, they are non cured. The individual is a recovering alcoholic.The organization follows a 12-step structure designed to help the recovering alcoholic have a healthy mind and spirit. By following the 12 go in sequence, the recovering alcoholic can improve their thought processes and work on healing their emotions.3. Therapeutic contentEven though AA is an independent organization and is not based on psychological or therapeutic research or interventions, they have adopted some techniques of opposite supposed models to help the group members deal with their illness.AA uses techniques from several(a) psychological theoretical models such as existentialism, gestalt, and narrative therapy.The existentialism opening invites clients to look for their being and ask themselves philosophical questions such as what is the meaning of live, how do actions mold individuals and to continually revise their set of values. AA uses this court in its program when they talk about the greater power, the purpose of their lives, etc.Gestalt theory sees each client as a unique individual and states that any swap made by the client has to be his or her own decision, gestalt therapy is also actually confrontational, and in both characteristics are include in the AA program. AA states that th e client will carry better if and only they in truth compliments it and commit to it.Also AA uses an approach corresponding to the narrative therapy by treating the addiction as an illness and as a fuss independent of the client, it externalizes it to try to confront it.4. Impressions and implicationWhen I arrived to the meeting the first occasion that called my attention was the fact that we had to park really far away from the actual post (about two blocks) I later found out that it was purposely made this way so the members wouldnt smell out ego conscious about having their cars outside of some intimacy that could be affiliated with alcoholism.I entered the location, it wasnt an actual church, merely it had a church handle structure. The doors were opened and most people seemed to recognize each other, before the meeting started some people verbalise hi to me unless no one asked any questions.The meeting began with a shot prayer called the placidness prayer, which had me call uping about some contradictions found in the AA philosophy since they claim not to have any religious affiliation save it certainly mat up a tiny inclined towards the Christian side. subsequently the prayer everyone introduced themselves (most people said their names and Im an alcoholic, alone some didnt) I said my name notwithstanding gave no further information. Then someone proceed to talk a little about the AA program and the 12-step structure.After the recognize process a make fun (27) stood up and went to the podium. He started by repeating his name and saying he was an alcoholic. He said that since this time he saw a apportion of new faces he valued to share his written report again.The man divided up a very powerful story about his involvement with alcohol, he verbalise he started drinking just about the eon of 14, he said that at the routine he thought he was just having fun and doing the same that everyone else did, but that at a time that he theorizes about it he realizes he was using alcohol as a coping mechanism to deal with the disarray he was facing about his sexuality.He stated that he came out of the insistence at the age of 16, that it was a very difficult time and that he was date older men who encouraged him to drink. He continued talking about what overture out had done to the relationship with his family members he described the time as very painful and he cried while cogent the story (some of the people in the meeting cried as well).He said that his return was very supportive since the beginning, that his younger blood brother had a hard time ground he said that he was a jog in school, so no one expected him to come out since he wasnt the gay attribute. entirely that the real issue was with his father, as soon as he gave him the countersign the father became very umbrageous and he kicked him out of the house. He said that he sort of expected the reaction but thought that he would eventually ge t off over it, but that that hadnt happened yet, and that its been 10 years and 7 months since the experience time he spoke with his father.He said that he joined AA when he was 23, he decide to attend a meeting because he and his accessory were having hard fights while he was under the shape of alcohol and he even attempt to hit him once. At that point the partner threatened with leaving him if he didnt get treatment. He stated that it was the opera hat decision he made in his live. He has now been sober for 3 years and 4 months.Before passing to the meeting I had many opinions about what I would find there, I was received that most people would be people of low socioeconomic status likely many homeless and very angry people. I was afraid of being force to speak and that they wouldnt understand the argue that I was participating in the meeting. I expected to see a lot of people praying, singing, and hugging at the end. But the truth is that the reality was very different to what I had in my imagination, I speak out my perception was heavily influenced by movies Ive see about it. One thing that caught my attention was the first to realize that most people in the group were people with jobs and life situations fairly normal. But by and large I was surprised that people were a bit cold and distant. I was hoping that dodos were join and friendly to each other but not the case.For me the story of gay guy was very powerful and I felt good to see people around me responding positively and nodding. One thing I did not like was the strong Christian influence of the program I feel that excludes many people who do not feel identified with this dogma.I think AA is a very powerful rooster and can help many clients, but I also think is not for everyone. I would recommend it to clients with maladaptive behaviors that do not have the skills to deal with day-after-day problems. I think that a person has to be religious to some point to really identify with the program. I would not recommend this program to teenagers because I think that there are other programs to a greater extent suitable for this population.