More About Alcoholics Anonymous

• It takes time for a newcomer to AA to understand and be willing to apply the term “alcoholic” to themselves - perhaps several months.
  
  
  Reassure the person and or their family that this is OK. It is best the person be honest and say they want to stop drinking, but are still coming to terms with the “alcoholic” label. Seeing and listening to “sober alcoholics” in AA broadens people’s understanding of AA’s terminology.
  
  As a professional, there is nothing wrong with your using terminology you are familiar and comfortable with using, provided you are not undermining people’s ability to gain assistance from AA.
  
  Some AA members, when they have gone for specialist assistance, have found this to be the case. i.e. their AA membership not being respected or supported.
  
  

• No one in AA should tell someone else they are or are not an “alcoholic”.
  
  You may explain, share your knowledge about alcoholism and AA’s lay understanding of alcoholism, make suggestions and encourage the person to explore these issues for themselves.
  
  Labels can be both positive and negative. However, for many alcoholics being able to “name the daemon” has its advantages - “Wow now I know what is wrong with me!”
  
  It is strictly for the newcomer to decide for themselves, whether they have the AA membership requirement, and whether they are willing to use that label as it is used in AA.
  
  
  
  

• AA’s only requirement for membership is a “desire to stop drinking” opens the door to a broad range of alcoholics.
  

  There are many different drinking styles - daily, weekend only, after work only, not before lunch, bender drinking.
  
  Loss of control is not necessarily the only or a permanent feature of every drinking occasion, although there are alcoholics for whom this is present from the beginning or early in their drinking careers.
  
  It is a very common feature of those drinkers entering mid to later stage alcoholism.
  
  And the “hair of the dog” (morning drinking) can be at lunchtime, especially if the person is still processing the previous nights drinking.

  
  
  

• There is no such thing as one “rock-bottom” for each person, although that may seem to implied.
  
  For alcoholics, there is a series of crises related to their drinking, each one of which has the potential to be the last time they drink if they receive appropriate help and support.
  
  The book Alcoholics Anonymous in its third edition, makes this point clear about people coming to AA earlier in their drinking careers. Ref: Introduction in Part II Edition 3 of Big Book before story titled Too Young on Page 317.
  
  In AA, there are often conversations about “the YETs” - those things not experienced yet - for those people join before later stage alcoholism - like DUIs, hospitalisation, jail, financial ruin, divorce etc. YET = You’re Eligible Too if you continue drinking.
  
  
  

• Understand “powerlessness” is NOT a dirty word
  
  Some people see AA’s insistence on admitting powerlessness a negative message to give problem drinkers.
  
  In a world that promotes self-reliance and material success and other achievements as personal triumphs, “powerlessness” can seem out of place.
  
  
  The reality is that we are all interconnected. Identifying one’s strengths and weaknesses enables the person to become proactive in their own lives. In that sense - more powerful.  For example, successful business people take training and/or use consultants to address those areas where they are less equipped.
  
  Accepting the lack of will-power control over one's drinking, and the unmanageability that brings, then frees the person to use the tools of the AA program so their lives will be more manageable.
  
  

• Be clear that stopping drinking altogether, whilst hard initially, is easier trying to control one’s intake.
  
  Many social drinkers consider that total abstinence is a “denial of one of life’s pleasures and so are reluctant to suggest or recommend AA. This is not helpful for people who are trapped in a vicious cycle of compulsion and obsession.
  
  A small amount of alcohol can reestablish the physical compulsion and/or mental obsession.
  
  That’s why AA’s suggestion that “one drink is too many and 100 is not enough”.
  
  The first phase of recovery is the withdrawal of alcohol to remove the physical compulsion and then getting sober time up and acceptance of the need to abstinence with the support offered by AA to release the mental obsession.
  
  With those two factors removed it is much easier to live a sober life as evidenced by the long sobriety of many of AA members.
  
  
  

• Is it the chicken or the egg? Appreciate abstinence can assist in teasing these issues out.
  
  For example “Is this person drinking because they are depressed or anxious? Or are they depressed or anxious as a consequence of their drinking?”
  
  Stopping drinking helps in that it removes the problems that come as a consequence of the drinking and allow the person and their practitioner to be able to address what underlying issues may be prompting the drinking behaviour.
  
  
  

• AA’s 12 step program helps to address underlying issues and for many people AA’s program and support is sufficient.  
  
  Although like any community member, AA members avail themselves of medical and other professional services as required
  
  Given the mental, physical and social consequences of alcoholism, many AA  members do seek more specialist professional support via medication, counselling, trauma therapy, financial support, and the like as needed.
  
  
  

• AA values all that the professional community can offer to assist its members to have a better quality of a sober life, and has a policy of cooperating with the professional community.
  
  In fact, AA has a Public Information and Professional Awareness National Committee dedicated to supporting professionals interested in knowing how AA can assist them. AA’s General Service Office can be contacted for more information.

Assess your attitudes and values in relation to religion

• Is religion and/or spirituality a concern for you?
  
  In Australia’s secular culture, there are concerns about issues of religion and spirituality. Most of the world’s religions are practised in Australia.
  
  Religions have a track record of providing many benefits to society and conversely a lot of harm has been done in the name of religion. “New age” spirituality likewise has its proponents and opponents.
  
  As a professional, you would know that for many people religious belief is important, and does not mean they are dysfunctional because of it.
  
  In some cases, their religion may inform their social justice and human rights values just as those values can inform people who are not religious.
  
  
  
  

• Keeping an open mind is important - remembering that all scientific achievements have been based upon trial and error, results based upon experience.
  
  AA is based upon thousands upon thousands of people’s experiences of what works for them. Many who initially were sceptical of AA providing the benefits it claimed, were surprised to find out otherwise.

• AA as a Magic pill?
  
  Changing entrenched behaviour often requires a combination of factors – accurate information, positive attitudes, skills development, support and time.
  
  Whilst AA recognises that there are other ways people may live a sober life, AA members see AA as the “easier softer way”. AA combines all of those factors.
  
  
  One of the most consistent observations AA members make is many new comers do not engage with AA for very long.
  
  There are many reasons for this.
  
  However, these are predominantly the  people who report AA did not work for them.
  
  
  

• As a professional, you can assist by addressing the client/ patients concerns with information and encouragement to attend many different AA meetings over a period of time (say three to six months) before they make a decision about what AA has to offer them.
  
  
  Also include the option of online meetings in addition to face-to-face meetings as well as special focused meetings (such as LGBTIQ+, women’s/ men’s meetings), as some geographic areas are more limited in the number and style of AA meetings available.
  
  
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