Narcotics Anonymous Meetings are held amongst a group of men and women who have become victims of drug addiction and are facing hardships in getting rid of these problems. These programs are completely anonymous; there are no legal reverberations against the addict. The groups are formed out of recovering addicts, where they help each other to abstain from the consumption of drugs. Even though these meetings are completely anonymous, it is very easy to become a part of them. The reason for these are the numerous format templates employed by the group.
Contents
Components of An NA Meeting
There are numerous components of an NA meeting. These are:
- The opening segment
- The prayer recital
- The Readings
- The Announcements
- The Introductions
- Sharing
- The Ending
Different Formats/ Types of NA Meetings
There are numerous types of formats which are used for NA meetings. Apart from the aforementioned Sample NA Meetings and Correctional Meeting format, Narcotics Anonymous accepts numerous other forms of formats.
At the most basic level, the meetings are conducted in two forms:
- Open – These meetings are open for all, i.e. anyone can attend these meetings.
- Closed – On the other hand, closed meetings allow only a limited number of people in their group. These cases might require special attention due to which only a select number of people are admitted.
Other formats are:
- Open Sharing – In these sessions, all people attending the meeting are allowed to share their opinion.
- Share – In share sessions, one only person speaks during a given point of time in the meeting.
- Common Needs – As the name suggests, these meetings are held for people who are suffering from the same ailments as the other people. These meetings can also be held for a common group of people such as gender, sexual identity, age, language etc.
- Round Robin – In such meeting formats, the sharing of stories goes around in a circle.
- Tag Meetings – In these meetings, the current speaker chooses the person whom he wants to speak next.
Ground Rules to Be Followed
Similar to other associations, Narcotics Anonymous also has various ground rules. These ground rules are to be mandatorily followed by all the people fo the group, including the head of the group. These ground rules are:
- Open-mindedness
- Listening Patiently to Others
- Engaging in Lively Conversation
- Polite agreements and disagreements
- Behaving in a Humane Manner
- Absolutely no admittance of drugs on your person.
Do’s and Don’ts of NA Meetings
Similar to other sacred places, NA meetings also come with their own set of Do’s and Don’ts.
Do’s
- Clarify the rules to everybody attending the meeting – be it a regular attendee or a first-timer.
- Impeccable time management is highly necessary.
- Do a screening of everyone attending the meeting, be it panel members, chairpersons and other speakers.
- Make sure to get all the agreements in a written format.
- The message of recovery by NA should be carried by the panel members.
Don’ts
- Never break another person’s anonymity. It is the foundation upon which the association is created.
- Remember the reason for your presence. Do not involve matters which are not concerned with narcotic recovery.
- Do not favoritism to any panel member. Always remember that all members are equal in the association and that all of them have the equal potential to get rid of their drug addiction habits.
- Do not bring members who have family members present in the group.
- Never accept gifts from any person. The only reward for Narcotics Association is healing.
The NA Meeting Signing Sheet
In the years before, there weren’t as many people taking part in Narcotics Anonymous as there are today. Due to this, the organization has seen a dramatic increase in people attending meetings. To keep a track of all the people attending the meetings, the NA Meeting Signing Sheet was devised. Often referred to as a court card, the group is asked to validate their attendance by signing the paper.
During earlier years, these signing sheets were made mandatory for recovering addicts who were sentenced to these sessions. Usually, the duration of their sentences was linked to their attendance in the NA Meeting Signing Sheet.
How To Design A NA Meeting Attendance Sheet
The NA Meeting Signing Sheet is basically an attendance sheet. It is used to note the names of the people attending a session on a particular date. The Signing Sheet has is titled as NA Meeting Attendance Sheet. Beneath it is the blank intended to be filled by the head of the group. Beneath these are three columns consisting of numerous rows. The rows are titled as Date, Name of Group and the Signature of the Participant.
A Sample NA Meeting Format
A generic Narcotics Meeting usually starts by the head of the groups, reading of a few lines of introduction. The participants either choose to share their stories of addiction and their fight against it or they choose to listen to the stories of the companions.
A sample NA Meeting format can be broken down into six parts. These are:
- An Introduction – The Introduction section consists of the head of the group introducing himself and welcoming everyone to Narcotics Anonymous. He, then, welcomes new members and reads out a few rules which are to be mandatorily followed.
- Defining an Addict – A lot of people don’t actually need to be asked twice to know what being an addict means. This is what is answered in the next segment. An addict is simply a man or a woman whose lives are so intertwined with drugs that it seems almost impossible for them to rehabilitate.
- The NA Program – This segment is mostly for the new people who join the association. It explains to them about the non-profit companionship of recovering drug addicts. The program helps them to attain an open-minded atmosphere so that the set of rules provided can work in the daily lives of people.
- Reason for Presence – This is one of the most important parts of Narcotics Anonymous. This segment helps people to actually grasp the reason behind them attending the meeting. In this segment, the head helps them to understand the reason that they are in the meeting. They recovering addicts were unable to manage their own lives and live on their own terms. So, they turned for help towards drugs for the quick bit of fun. This harmed a lot of people in their lives, most importantly, they harmed themselves. They tried to get rid of this addiction but were unable to do so on their own. Hence, they turned for help towards Narcotics Anonymous.
It was only after attending Narcotics Association that they learned more about their sickness; their addiction. This realization led them to take part in a cure which wasn’t instantaneous but could be curbed over a substantial period of time.
- The Workings – In order to receive the help in the right caliber, it is important that people make the effort to follow the steps ascertained by the association. There are numerous principles which the recovering addicts need to agree with. However, it is not easy to work on all these principles at the same time. Working on these problems takes time. Each of these principles is broken down into segments for the people to work on and change their life. It will take time for the user to recover from this addiction. Becoming an addict also took its time.
- The Twelve Traditions – Belief in a higher power is very important for us to believe in that ourselves. And it is very important for us to believe in ourselves to allow the wave of change to flow through our bodies. Similar to this concept, the Narcotics Anonymous also has a higher power governing the workings of the system. This higher power is known as The Twelve Traditions. These traditions govern everything ranging from the common welfare of the association, belief in God, the desire to stop using to maintaining integrity in anonymity.
The Correctional Meeting Format
There are numerous formats for delivering a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. The Sample NA format is one of them. Another of them is the Correctional Meeting format. There are many similarities between the sample format and this one.
However, this format has been amended so that people can also be provided with correctional facilities. The format includes:
- Introduction by the head of the meeting and welcoming everyone.
- A moment of silence for everyone facing drug issues followed by a prayer.
- Asking everyone to introduce themselves by giving their first name.
- Explaining everyone about the meeting being a hospitals and institutions meet. Such meetings provide additional access by the H&I committee. These accesses provide special presentations which are absent in NA meetings.
- Subsequent to this, all proceeding is conducted according to NA meeting customs.
