Drugs and Alcohol Essay

Drug Treatment and Prevention Program: The Local Alcoholics Anonymous Chapter

The primary function of the program:

The primary function of Alcoholics Anonymous is to private group counseling as a resource to alcoholics and recovering alcoholics. Often paired with community centers and local places of worship, the A.A. chapter in my community uses a nearby Protestant Church. According to the volunteer counselor whom I interviewed for this program profile, the local chapter has a rotating membership of roughly 70 nearby residents. The counselor indicates this they serve the program's primary function by organizing and moderating group meetings.

The clients served:

serves alcoholics and recovering alcoholics in 114,000 communities worldwide. The A.A. assesses its membership at roughly 2,000,000 members from a total of 170 countries. This makes it the largest and most widely utilized treatment organizations for addressing the disease of alcoholism. The clients served in the local community, the counselor tells, come from all walks of life but are united in their commitment to continue to overcome their addictions.

Specific aspects of the program:

Among the specific aspects of the program, the source by Kurtz (2002) indicates that A.A. utilizes a 'twelve step' model that it originated as a clearly delineated path to recovery. The twelve step program is aimed at offering alcoholics directs on how to shift their perspective, how to approach life decisions and ultimately how to resist the temptation of alcohol.

According to Kurtz (2002), an inherent aspect of this model would be the characterization of the condition as a disease. According to Kurtz, "most members of Alcoholics Anonymous do speak of their alcoholism in terms of disease: the vocabulary of disease was from the beginning and still remains for most of them the best available for understanding and explaining their own experience."(Kurtz, p. 2)

Another important dimension upon which Alcoholics Anonymous defines itself is its embrace of spiritual values. For many of its members, the role played by the adoption of a more spiritual outlook is important in helping to overcome the emotional and psychological dimensions of the disease. As such, Christianity often has a prominent part in helping to reform the lives of recovering alcoholics. The counselor with whom I interviewed noted that it is not at all uncommon for success stories within the A.A. program to adopt a more worship-centered life and identity.

In direct relation, A.A. also promises anonymity as a core value for its members. This protective measure is appropriate for several reasons. According to A.A., "anonymity is the spiritual foundation of A.A. It disciplines the Fellowship…