Support and Addiction Therapy Groups: Background, Meeting Structure, and Function

Support Groups and Treatment Groups
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Abstract
Support groups and addiction therapy groups are crucial in helping individuals struggling with drug abuse problems overcome this challenge. There are various support group categories, such as alcoholic anonymous (AA) AI-Anon, and narcotics anonymous (NA). All employ a twelve-step program that brings together individuals who face similar drug abuse struggles and help them cope with such struggles. Similarly, there are different addiction therapy groups, including psycho-educational groups, skill development groups, interpersonal process groups, and cognitive behavioral theory groups, that help individuals overcome drug abuse behavior. This paper discusses all these groups in detail, providing historical background and meeting structure and function of each group.
Support Groups
This section focuses on addiction support groups such as AA, NA, and AI-Anon support groups. These groups are voluntary and allow individuals facing common addiction struggles to meet and share mutual support (Zemore et al., 2017; Krentzman et al., 2011). This section summarizes the history, brief overview, meeting structure, and observations I made when I attended sessions in each of the aforementioned support groups.
Alcoholic Anonymous
Brief History of AA
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a fellowship that brings together individuals who intend to solve their alcoholism problem. It started when Dr. Bob, an Akron surgeon, and Bill W., a New York stockbroker, met in Akron, Ohio, in 1935 (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). These individuals had been suffering from severe alcoholism. The interaction of these individuals resulted in the rise of AA. In subsequent years, particularly in Akron City Hospital, several patients through AA achieved sobriety. The idea also spread to other regions in the United States, such as New York and Cleveland. By the 1950s, over 100,000 individuals attending AAs had recovered from alcoholism. Today are present in over 180 countries, playing a crucial role in helping people suffering from alcoholism recover.
Meeting Structure and Function
There are two types of AA meetings, open and closed; the former is available to alcoholics and non-alcoholics, and the latter is only reserved for people with a drinking problem (Wnuk, 2022). In both these meetings, participants are requested to confine their discussions to matters related to recovery from alcoholism. In both cases, meetings are coordinated by one of the AA members who determine the format of the day's meeting (Wnuk, 2022). AA meetings can be held online, on the phone, or in person, with each group member deciding where, when, and how frequently they should meet. In-person meetings are common and take place in various places, such as churches, office buildings, treatment centers, and social halls. Some meetings may also take place in parks, beaches, and other outdoor settings. The chairperson usually opens the meeting with a few remarks and the AA Preamble with some calling for a moment of silence and reciting of the AA Serenity Prayer (Krentzman et al., 2010). The chairperson usually asks if any new attendees would like to introduce themselves to the group. Almost all meetings start with at least one reading from the Big Book, often a section of Chapter 5 called "How It Works" or Chapter 3 called "More About Alcoholism" It is important to note that an anonymity statement is a crucial privacy principle for new and old members (Krentzman et al., 2010). The statement is usually read in all meetings. Meetings close with all members joining in a silence moment followed by a prayer and, in some cases reciting of the Responsibility Statement and other AA texts
Personal Observation
For personal observation, I attended a local AA meeting held in one of the local churches in my area. The meeting was scheduled to start at 4:00 pm, but I arrived 1 hour earlier. I was apprehensive because walking into a strange place with little experience of drug abuse appeared to be a daunting task. Upon arrival, I introduced myself to the meeting coordinator, told him who I was, and informed him about my intention to observe as a psychology student. He welcomed me courteously. People started arriving about 20 minutes before 4:00 pm. They interacted harmoniously before the chairperson opened the meeting. Upon opening the meeting, a person volunteered and read the preamble, How it Works, and the 12 steps. The topic of the day was Step 6, which stated that an "alcoholic addict is ready for God to remove character defect." The matter was thoroughly discussed, and it was concluded that the addict lacks the power to notice their problems themselves, and many who find out what their defects are usually fail to change even after that realization. Thus, addicts must admit that they are powerless against alcohol addiction.
After discussing step 6, various people shared or celebrated various milestones in the journey toward recovery, and the meeting ended with an AA prayer.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
Brief History
Like AA, the main goal of the NA program is to help members drop their drug abuse behavior and achieve sobriety by participating in support groups. Members must admit to being powerless against drug addiction (Pardo & Reuter, 2018). Being powerless against drug addiction allows members to cling to the hope of a Higher Power as they understand their personal Higher Power of being "all-powerful." Believing in this power is expected to help NA members with sobriety even if they cannot help themselves.
Narcotics Anonymous was founded in 1953 by James Patrick Kinnon, also known as Jimy K, in Los Angeles, California, to help individuals stop using addictive substances. While AA had existed for nearly 20 years when NA was established, the former only dealt with alcoholism and drug abuse (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). Kinnon recognized that the AA 12-step program had several benefits to individuals struggling with alcoholism which he thought could be transferred to people facing drug abuse challenges. In its early stages, NA had low membership, but as time passed, hundreds enrolled in the program, and the number of NA meetings increased significantly. By the 1970s, NA had spread worldwide to Australia, Brazil, India, Colombia, Ireland, Germany, Great Britain, and New Zealand. NA, approach imitates the AA 12-program in many ways, with just a few exceptions (DeLucia et al., 2016). Today, thousands of NA meetings occur every day globally to help individuals struggling with both alcohol and drug abuse problems.
Meeting Structure and Function
Like AA meetings, two types of NA meetings exist, and they include open and closed meetings, with the former being attended by both members and non-members, such as observers, and the latter only by members. All members are also expected to follow the 12-steps toward sobriety (Krentzman et al., 2010). However, the 12-steps for NA steps have been altered slightly, where the open-ended terminology has been changed to include all drugs and alcohol. NA meetings, therefore, proceed in an almost identical manner to AA meetings, aiming to establish an anonymous group of addicts who intend to achieve abstinence through mutual sharing among themselves (Krentzman et al., 2010). Like in AA meetings, a chairperson who is one of the members opens the NA meetings by first stating their first name and admitting that they are an addict and recovering from this behavior. The meeting is opened with a moment of silence, and the day's topic is introduced, which must be related to drug addiction. Members may also recite some of the NA's 12-step traditions. It is also important to note that the chairperson may ask if there new members who can be either addicts or any other person before proceeding with the meeting (Krentzman et al., 2010). The topic of the day is discussed thoroughly, and meetings are concluded with the Serenity prayer.
Personal Observation
Having already attended an AA meeting, I was much less nervous when I decided to attend an NA meeting. I was already aware that members of support groups are harmless and kind. Searching for the NA group was harder than AA because most NA groups are closed, but I was lucky to find one scheduled on a Sunday near my home at the Presbyterian Church. The experience of the NA meeting was much like the AA meeting I had previously attended in another church where the chairperson opened the meeting by reading the preamble and some content of 12-steps, including "why we are here" and "how it works among traditions. A moment of silence followed, and later the discussion was open to members who wanted to share their stories. One of the women who attended during the sharing session indicated that slips are a normal part of the journey to recovery from drug abuse. She narrated that she slipped up a few ago, which significantly dented the respect she had earned for the past year from her relatives and friends. There were other stories, some concerning slips, and others celebrating their achievements in NA groups. One of the things I noticed is that the members of this NA group were much younger than those of the AA support group.
AI-Anon
Brief History
Relatives of drug addicts are usually affected by the behavior of their loved ones. Consequently, a support group called AI-Anon to cater to these individuals was formed for the betterment of such family members along with the addicted relatives (Fallon, 2014). AI-Anon is based on the fact that supportive relationships promote longer abstinence periods.
AI-Anon was established in 1948 by Lois Wilson, the wife of the cofounder of AA, Bill Wilson, along with Anne B, the wife of the other AA confounder, Dr. Bob. As various former members state, the wives of AA members would usually join their husbands and would join together as they waited for their spouses to finish meetings (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2020). By doing so, they found comfort in sharing their challenges of being wives to alcoholics. Such informal meetings continued for nearly a decade before AI-Anon was established as a formal organization, which adopted the 12-steps and traditions from AA. In 1955, AI-Anon created its first literature piece, The AI-Ano...