Recent conflict at a WFS meeting has caused me to reflect on what I
have found of value in meetings.

My favorites and why ....

AA meeting in Las Vegas led by a therapist, (oh, no, did this break a
rule). The meetings were always, "Moving in an honest flow, and
lacked judgment."

AA East Side Group in Tucson, morning meeting. This group was the
only one that ever took a group inventory. (I have lived in 5 states
and have not seen it other than this group). The leaders of the
group were conscious most of the time.

WFS Meeting San Marcos, Monday evening. I found this meeting to have
a variety of ages, strengths, freedom, and healthy group guidelines.

SOS Women online, lovingly supportive, sometimes chaotic, which has
incredible appeal, (the absence of dogma allows for the freedom of
expression).

In my experience the problematic meetings are those that lack
guidelines, where the leader is unaware of group dynamics and
when, "teachers lead." We have various recovery groups led by
teachers and these are, "information driven rather than people
driven." (Teachers as only one example)

One similarity in all recovery groups, and the claim is made by the
leader or founder. "People leave our group because they have moved
on with their life, or people leave because the drink again."

This is inaccurate, even for groups such as WFS. Without exploring
this within the group no accuracy or true credibility exists.

Beth