Describe the objectives of Alcoholics Anonymous. Give reasons why self-help groups are successful. ...

Many treatment programs are available for alcoholics who acknowledge a drinking problem. The best-known and most successful program is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It is a self-help group composed of recovering alcoholics. AA stresses the following precepts: (a) confessing to the group that one has a drinking problem, (b) recounting to the group past experiences with the drinking problem and plans for handling the problem in the future, and (c) phoning another member of the group whenever one feels an intense urge to drink. The person called will do whatever can be done to keep the caller dry, including coming over to stay with the person until the urge subsides. AA is widely recognized as the treatment approach that has the best chance of helping an alcoholic. Testimony to its value is that hundreds of other self-help groups with treatment principles based on the AA model have now been formed to deal with other personal problems.
There appear to be several reasons why such self-help groups are successful. The members have an intrinsic understanding of the problem that helps them to help others. Having experienced the misery and consequences of the problem, they are highly motivated and dedicated to find ways to help themselves and others who are fellow sufferers. The participants also benefit from the helper therapy principle, that is, the helper gains psychological rewards by helping others. From the viewpoint of new members who are still drinking, having people around who have successfully stopped provides role models of abstinence and gives them reason to believe that they too can break the grip of alcohol abuse.