12 Step

Mathew Lares

Professor Likens

AD 1

6-2-2016

Reaction Paper

For my reaction paper I chose to attend an AA twelve-step meeting. This meeting was held at California Mental Health Connection Center. This facility is located in Baldwin Park California. Going into this meeting I wasn’t sure what to expect. In complete honesty I was nervous as I first sat down in the meeting, until the meeting progressed.

The size of the meeting was made up of ten people. There were three females and seven males. In my opinion the smaller group seems to be more effective. The reason being is because everyone can connect on a more personal level. Within a smaller group it is much easier to get to each other. I found that the less people in the group worked best because more time can be devoted to each person attending the program.

As I first entered the meeting I was worried that wouldn’t be welcome in by its members. But it was the complete opposite. A lot of people have a negative connotation towards individuals who are substances abusers, which in reality they are kind and caring people who just lost their way. The reason why I believe that I was so welcomed was because they saw what it was I was doing. Most of the members knew that I was there for educational reasons, which was inspiring to them.

I was not amazed at how much the members of the group were really involved. I knew that they were all there for a reason, which is to get sober. I expected all of the groups’ members to be involved and interact because if they didn’t then, they wouldn’t have been there in the first place. Through out the meeting and hearing people share their personal experiences and stories, I couldn’t help but feel positive vibes

Definitely this twelve-step meeting was based on religion. As it first started off the person in charge introduced Jesus Christ as the higher power. Throughout the course of the meeting words like praise, free, God, and Jesus are used repeatedly....