A Simple Program for Complicated People: AA, Community Self-Help, and the Clinician’s Role

Individuals with alcohol use disorders are frequently encouraged to attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and court systems continue to mandate regular attendance at meetings for those engaged in the legal systems as a result of their drinking and drug use, but why? With all the available advancements in the fields of psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and neuroscience, why is a nearly century-old self-help program that claims to be non-organized, non-professional, does not promote itself, is unstructured and not affiliated with any outside enterprises, and where meetings are led by individuals with no formal training at all, still promoted and often preferred for treating alcoholism and drug addiction?

Through this workshop, we will explore various community recovery programs, like AA, for the treatment of alcoholism, drug addiction and process addictions. We will review the latest available research comparing AA with treatment as usual and hear the personal stories of two brave clients whose lives have been positively impacted by engaging in community recovery. Lastly, we will help provide insight around some of the common barriers that keep clients from engaging in community recovery and how to address these barriers in a skillful and supportive way.