AA Meetings - Essay Example

? AA Meetings Task Miami, which is home of the south beach, is largely known as one of the world’s biggest party cities. Most ofthe citizens of the city are faced with drug and alcohol related addictions. The community open addiction related help groups assist the patients of various addictions in dealing with the withdrawal signs when stopping drug use (Jason, 2006). After attending several of their meetings, I discovered that the community groups offer diverse types of treatments for the helping various kinds of addicts in overcoming their problems. The groups offered residential, outpatient, dual diagnosis and teen addiction treatment types (Taxman & Belenko, 2011). The residential treatment offered involves restraining individuals to live in environments where there are other addicts recovering. The outpatient form of treatment was offered for patients who needed to maintain certain responsibilities, whereas a dual diagnosis was to be given to patients who were encountering cerebral illnesses and addictions. Finally, the treatment of teen addiction involves working closely with the young teens to help them in solving their addiction woes. This form of treatment also aims at providing the teens with greater education concerning the impacts of addiction (Jason, 2006). In their meetings, the members made the discoveries that despite their government’s efforts to curb the spread of the drugs, they had become cheap and readily available for their users. The group thereby resolved to promote open forums to counter the spread of the habits, which were adversely affecting their community. Their meeting revealed that more of their citizens were ending up in prisons for the possession and consumption of the drugs (Taxman & Belenko, 2011). The community members also expressed their optimism for an improvement in their communities. They also resolved to expand the accessibility of treatment facilities to the poor and underprivileged members of their society. They all viewed this as an important measure in ensuring that the addicts develop capabilities that will help them in their future. They claimed that such activities would enable the addicts to become participative in their communities (Jason, 2006). I also attended meetings held by a support group that aids in the fight against drug addictions in the Miami area. The major areas that the groups supported in the area are the recovery from alcoholism, cocaine, marijuana and heroin addictions. The support groups have indulged in developing high quality and sustainable methodologies of treating the addictions (Kelly, 2010). The support group meetings emphasized mainly on the coordination among various agencies fighting the act so as to be effective in their efforts. The support groups aim at convincing the government and lawmakers across the state of Florida and the country as a whole, that there are other effective means of fighting off addictions instead of punishing the perpetrators. The meetings from the community members also resolved that their families will be strong and health. Their community members would also benefit from the views being presented from the different people (Miller, 2010). The support group meetings emphasized on the importance of various aspects within the Miami community. These included the activities of saving lives, crime reduction, rebuilding families along with societies and the use of public funds for the desired purposes. Members of the support groups emphasized on the need for adopting alternative methods for combating these vices (Kelly, 2010). There was criticism raised by the groups concerning the government’s decision to concentrate their efforts in the eradication, interdiction and prohibition of drugs within the country. The support group meetings came up with various suggestions for their collaboration with other law enforcers to ensure the issues of drug and alcohol addictions are adequately dealt with (Miller, 2010). The support groups meeting also considered the fact that the issue of drug and alcohol addictions was costing the government a lot in expenses. This included money incurred in implementing corrective measures for the addicts (Jason, 2006). Both meetings concluded that the United States of America’s government has lost many resources because of the problem of drug addictions within their country. The number of deaths that result from drug related cases is approximately over 10,000 per year (Jason, 2006). There are a number of cases, which result to the transmission of the AIDS virus due to injection when consuming drugs (Kelly, 2010). During the meetings attended, I discovered that addictions result from several factors. These are the genetics, individual, social, environmental and the emotional factors. The abuse of drugs could run within a family’s lineage and it could result from depressions, environmental stresses and the availability of drugs. In the Miami area, the abuse of powerful and addictive drugs has produced changes in the physical and emotional well being of the addicts. This experience will be beneficial to me when it comes to facing future situations or clients. This is because it will enable me to determine the factors leading a client into the vice along with how I can assist one to avoid the adverse impacts of the habit (Taxman & Belenko, 2011). After attending the community open forums, I have been able to understand the various types of treatments offered for the patients of the vice. This will help me in directing victims of various addictions to various help centers that can effectively help them in solving their problems. My participation in the support groups will enable me to get the required funding and assistance when urgent situations arise (Miller, 2010). Attending the community forums helped me in discovering that one needs to talk openly with his clients to find the root causes of their problems. It also helps in the provision of the best solutions to the problems addicts are facing since one has a better understanding of the major events happening in their lives. The process of identifying community open forums and support groups in Miami was not a major problem. The city has been experiencing an increase in crime rates, drug addicts, prostitution and other vices due to the effects of the drugs availed on the streets (Jason, 2006). This has facilitated the establishment of various communal and support groups that have been put in place to help address these vices. There are many groups within the area, which has greatly enabled me in obtaining the required resources easily. According to the experiences I had with both groups during their meetings, I tend to think that support groups are not the primary source of help for addicts. They act as an accompaniment for the individual therapies that addicts get. This is because they are not responsible for determining and dealing with the root source of the addictions. They are responsible for assisting individuals who help in catering for the addicts in their welfare homes (Taxman & Belenko, 2011). References Jason, L. (2006). Creating Communities for Addiction Recovery. New York: Routledge. Kelly J. F. (2010). Addiction Recovery Management: Theory, Research and Practice. New York: Springer. Miller, G. (2010). Learning the Language of Addiction Counseling. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Taxman, F.S. & Belenko, S. (2011). Implementing Evidence-Based Practices In Community Corrections And Addiction. New York: Springer. Read More