?
The Idea It stemmed from a recent viewing of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club. It occurred to me that I have never visited any form of group therapy. Just the thought of it made me uncomfortable. The idea of speaking out about your own life and troubles to other people scares me. It is something I had never done before, and was certainly outside my comfort zone. I am quite an open minded person, and was intrigued about how a real self help group would compare to those shown in films, so I thought I would attend a local meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Session I turned up to the meeting, and saw the attendees standing outside, I was at the point of bottling it and turning around, but the deadline was looming so I bit the bullet and introduced myself. I said I was there on behalf of someone I knew (which wasn’t a lie) and I was welcomed and told to sit at the back and listen in on the meeting. The obvious thing that stuck out to me was how on earth I was going to document something that is built around anonymity. Any attempt to record the event would have been highly inappropriate, so all I have is the memories of the event. So there I was, fresh faced and sitting on my own. A few members approached me and introduced themselves and asked why I was there. After explaining, they began to tell me how A.A works and what it had done for them. One person in particular went into great detail about his experience, which I was not expecting.
Despite the warm welcome I received, throughout the entire 90 minute meeting I endured the uncomfortable feeling that I didn’t belong, which was true. I felt I shouldn’t be there listening to the stories and hearing people expressing their feelings out loud. What I Learnt It opened my eyes, a lot. I was unaware of the severity of the illness and the impact it has on individual lives as well as all the people associated with them. It was insightful listening to the members talk about their experiences and how it had affected them. It increased my perception of the subcultures that exist in our very own society that we may be unaware of. This is just one help group my local town has to offer, but there are dozens more covering a range of illnesses and experiences. It shows the sheer number of issues that are current in our society that go unnoticed by the passer by, but it shows that if we stop look and listen to what is going on around us there is a wealth of experiences and opportunities to do good and help others. This experience has made me consider if this is a narrative to push forward for my independent practice. Perhaps raising awareness for a particular subculture of society that needs support could be in interesting journey to take? “Alcoholism is like having a jar fully of muddy water. Only when you stop drinking does the crap fall to the bottom and you can start to see through the clear.” - Anon
!