For one of our assignment in our group process class, we were to find and attend a 12 step meeting in the Memphis area. I have never been to a 12 step meeting, so I was both interested and a little too skeptical to step into a group as both a participant and an observer to see how these groups were led. Even more importantly, I was curious if group sessions like this were REALLY effective for the members that came to them. I choose to go to an alcoholics anonymous meeting at a downtown Memphis church that was held during lunch with two other girls in my class. We arrived just as the meeting was starting, and my first observation was of the people that were sitting in the chairs around me. Some seemed interested and alert while others looked like they could care less about the meeting. The leader was standing at the front of the podium wearing all black with a big cross necklace around his neck. He, for the most part, took a very directive facilitative role throughout the meeting and guided the members through the process, ensuring that everyone stayed on topic and provided assistance when needed. At first, I felt as if he was a bit intense but by the end of the meeting, I understood why. He himself was an alcoholic that had lived on the streets and saw his life fall apart because of alcoholism (which he called his disease). He was intense because he understood what it was going to take from the other group members to make it through all 12 -steps. He handled differently personalities differently, praising some for their honesty while cutting others short if what they were sharing was not on topic. I believe this was an effective way to lead this group because there was such an assortment of individuals at the meeting with different cognitive abilities By using this directive facilitation he was able to provide appropriate parameters for the members to share and learn in the meeting. The environment of the meeting was also quite interesting to me because it was held in the basement of the church in a little chapel. I did not realize how deeply spiritual AA meetings were and I was surprised that this meeting definitely had Christian undertones (including saying the Lord's Prayer at the conclusion of the meeting.) This definitely had an impact on the individuals who were there, and I wondered if any felt uncomfortable especially if they weren't Christians. I think this may have been just this particular meeting because after looking on their website, I came to understand that while AA is indeed very spiritual, it is not inherently Christian and simply refers to a "higher power". I do think that AA is effective in helping people who struggle with alcoholism, however, I also think that I did not see the most therapeutic AA meeting in the Memphis area. There were times where the leader just came off really strong, and I felt that some members couldn't really truly express themselves. I would, however, definitely consider this a support group because group members were allowed to openly share with one another where they were in the process. People applauded one another for coming to the meeting, and one group member shared his story which was truly inspiring and specifically looked at another group member saying "you can do this too, you've already taken the first step." I am so thankful that I got to enter into this group and just observe how a 12 step program works. I left the group inspired, and really do believe now after hearing some of the members stories, that AA is one of the reasons why they were still alive and in that meeting. I would love to go to another 12 step meeting in the future to observe again sometime soon.