USMC Quality of Life QOL Condition and Future Direction

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Self-Help Groups
2006 Substance Abuse Symposium
17 Aug 06
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Why Self-Help Groups?

• Part of aftercare program following treatment
• Many self-help groups are based on the
  principles of Alcoholics Anonymous

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The Preamble
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a
fellowship of men and women who share
their experience, strength and hope with each
other that they may solve their common problem
and help others to recover from alcoholism.
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What is Alcoholism?
To most AA members, alcoholism is a progressive
illness, which can never be cured, but can be
arrested. Many members feel the illness is a
combination of a physical sensitivity to alcohol
and a mental obsession with drinking, which
cannot be broken with willpower alone.
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Membership

• Must have a desire to stop drinking, taking one
  day at a time
• No dues or fees
• More than 100,000 groups and over 2,000,000
  members worldwide
• A program of total abstinence
• Anonymity is the Fellowships foundation

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History

• AA began in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, as a meeting
  between Bill W., a stockbroker, and Dr. Bob S.,
  an surgeon, who were both hopeless alcoholics.
• Both men had attended meetings of the Oxford
  Group, which was a non-alcoholic fellowship
  emphasizing universal spiritual values.

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The Big Book

• Entitled Alcoholics Anonymous, but also known
  as the Big Book, written by Bill W., and
  published in 1939 revised in 1955, 1976, and
  2001.
• Includes the AA philosophy the Twelve Steps
  and principles that early members believed
  assisted in their ability to overcome the desire
  to drink
• Latest edition contains the stories of 42
  problem drinkers who became sober through AA.

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The Twelve Steps

• We admitted we were powerless over alcoholthat
  our lives had become unmanageable.
• Came to believe that a Power greater than
  ourselves could restore us to sanity.
• 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our
  lives over to the care of God as we understood
  Him.

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The Twelve Steps(continued)

• Made a searching and fearless moral inventory
• of ourselves.
• 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another
  human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
• 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all
• these defects of character.

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The Twelve Steps(continued)

• Humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings.
• 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and
  became willing to make amends to them all.
• 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever
  possible, except when to do so would injure them
  or others.

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The Twelve Steps(continued)
10. Continued to take personal inventory and
when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. 11.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve
our conscious contact with God, as we understood
Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for
us and the power to carry that out. 12. Having
had a spiritual awakening as the result of these
steps, we tried to carry this message to
alcoholics, and to practice these principles in
all our affairs.
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Meetings
OpenOpen to anyone interested in the AA program
of recovery Open SpeakerAA members tell their
stories Open DiscussionGroup participation in
discussion of a topic relevant to the AA program.
ClosedFor AA members only, or for those who
have a drinking problem and have a desire to
stop drinking. Meetings are also held for
Beginners, Young People, Men Only, and Women Only

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Sponsorship and Loners

• Newcomers may often seek out a sponsor, someone
  who has maintained sobriety, to share their
  experiences and offer support
• Lone members, or those individuals living in
  isolated areas throughout the world have achieved
  sobriety solely through study of A.A. literature,
  or through correspondence and web-based meetings
  with their counterparts in other areas of the
  world.
• For more information on Alcoholics Anonymous,
  visit www.aa.org.

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Other Self-Help Groups
Narcotics Anonymous www.na.org Gamblers
Anonymous www.gamblersanonymous.org Overeaters
Anonymous www.oa.org Alanon/Alateen
www.al-anon.alateen.org
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Last Slide!
Any Questions? Thank you!