Running head: TWELVE STEP MEETING REACTION AND 1

Twelve Step Meeting Reaction and Thoughts

Abigail Floriano-Monarrez

Catawba College

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Psychology 3501, Selected Topics in

Psychology, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors

3/31/21
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When admitting defeat to a substance, it can be difficult to find compassion due to the

stigmatization of those who go through addiction. Groups that involve people who are going

through similar situations may bring comfort to those seeking help and needing a community to

rely on for their progress into a life where they are not so dependent on the substance that made

them feel defeated. I had gone to two meetings, an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting and a

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting. There were lots of emotions I had before going in and left

with many pertaining thoughts after, I will be going over those thoughts in this paper. I will also

be detailing how my view on those who are going through addiction has changed and how I view

12-step meetings.

For my first meeting, I went to an AA online meeting. Before I attended, I was searching

frantically for an open meeting and I was super scared and nervous. I was looking for that could

be on Zoom, but I eventually chose a chat room that was open to the public. Once I entered, there

were many users who were avid users who were greeting and checking up on each other. Their

main topic for the meeting was the revolving door. The participants that had a chance to talk

spoke of how they wound up going to meetings and how new and old members come and go

from the 12-step meetings. There was a participant who had shared that they had gone through

the revolving door many times and ultimately are going to stay within the group since it is

helping them go through their addiction. Their story stuck with me for a while and made me

think of the hardships people battling addiction go through and how many times they have

relapses and feeling as if they are not worth putting others through their pain but then ultimately

finding their community that welcomes them with open arms, no matter how many times they

may relapse.
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For my second meeting, I went to an NA online meeting. For the NA meeting, it was

difficult finding an open one. I had tried many Zoom meetings, but they were either labeled

incorrectly (i.e., not open) or they were just not active. I final landed on one that was on Zoom, I

was nervous going in and I wanted to stay anonymous, so I kept my camera off and changed my

name on how it was shown to the other participants. Many participants knew each other and

started saying how happy they were to see them attend another meeting, it was a very positive

experience in terms of the community. The topic for the meeting was higher power. Many users

related this to religion and how even though they were not religious, they found compassion

from those who worship, and it made them feel loved and felt as if they were no longer judged

for their addiction. There were also stories that made me feel sad for the person sharing because

of how their situation was not helping their addiction, but they had sources of support from those

they love, which made me feel better. There was also awards mentioned at the end of the

meeting for long you had been sober and also conversation of celebrations going on in some

communities for individuals who had surpassed multiple years of being sober. It was a great

group to be a part of and how uplifting everyone was of people when they mentioned something

difficult was nice to see.

Before I learned more about addiction and how it can affect people, I used to judge

people going through addiction. I really saw it as a choice and an easy fix if the users just

stopped using the substance or stopped the behavior. Now, with more information and seeing a

small snippet of the kind of meetings people going through addiction go to, my opinion has

changed. The meetings I had gone to had shown me how approachable and how open the

communities were for newcomers and people coming again after not going for a while. This

made me view people going through addiction as people who want a community in which they
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belong and there was no judgement as to why they ended up at the 12-step meeting. These

meetings can be really helpful to those who want to take a step into getting help, I wouldn’t say it

should be the only form of treatment, but it is a steppingstone in the right direction towards

recovery. I think a limitation for online meeting may be how some individuals may not be able to

join due to not having internet connection. The benefits for these online meetings could be if

someone is too scared of in-person social interaction, they could just hop onto a device that

connects them to their meetings. Another benefit is how convenient the meetings are to people’s

time schedules and how they do not have to drive out to a certain location for a meeting. Overall,

I think 12-step meetings are helpful to the individuals who seek a community of fellow

individuals going through the same problems they are and having some guidance from those who

have been battling addiction for a while.