As I require students to attend 12-step meetings (or some type of
self-help group) as a part of an addictions course I teach, I have written
a handout for them to prepare them for the experience (see
http://www.lasalle.edu/~chapman/aa_mtg.doc ). The students are asked to
write a personal opinion essay on their experience, focusing on: a)
whether or not they would use self-help referrals as an adjunct to
professional counseling and why, and b) what aspects of what they have
been learning in classes do they see in action or reinforced at the
meetings they attend, e.g., CBT principles, attending skills, etc.
(instructions on writing the assignment are available at
http://www.lasalle.edu/~chapman/selfhelp.doc ) They are asked to attend at
least 3 OPEN meetings to increase the likelihood of an objective
assessment of the fellowship rather than a personal reaction to particular
meeting. They are told they may attend 3 session of the same meeting,
e.g., the "Tuesday evening, 8 PM AA mtg, or 3 separate groups of the same
description, e.g., AA on Mon in town X, Sat in town Y and Sun in town Z,
or 3 separate and distinct fellowships, e.g., AA, NA and Al-anon.
I share this handout in case you may find it useful for students you
teach. It may also be useful as a handout for individuals being referred
to meetings for their own personal recovery issues, but please know that
it has a distinct "student doing a classroom assignment" feel to it.
Again, the handout is online at:
http://www.lasalle.edu/~chapman/aa_mtg.doc
You are free to download, edit and duplicate, but I would appreciate a
citation and reference to my web page at http://www.robertchapman.net
Best regards,
Robert
Robert J. Chapman, PhD
Coordinator, AOD Program
Associate Faculty, Clinical/Counseling Psychology
La Salle University
1900 W. Olney Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19141-1199
Phone: 215-951-1357 Fax: 215-951-1451
mailto:chapman@lasalle.edu
home page http://www.robertchapman.net
Reserve October 16 - 19, 2004 for the US Department of Education's 18th
Annual National Meeting on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence
Prevention in Higher Education at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in
Arlington, VA. To learn more visit http://www.edc.org/hec/natl/2004
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