Teaching college students about Alcoholics Anonymous: an experiential approach

Alcohol use disorders and their related consequences continue to be among the nation's most prevalent and persistent healthcare problems across the lifespan. The vast majority of treatment facilities for substance use disorders in the United States report using some form of 12-step facilitation to help direct their patients to mutual help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Yet, many students in various healthcare disciplines may lack familiarity and direct experience with this readily accessible and potentially lifesaving, low-cost resource. AA has a long-standing tradition of extending an open invitation to professionals and providing educational materials about this worldwide program of recovery. The purpose of this article is to describe an experiential, interdisciplinary approach that has been used to teach undergraduate psychology students about AA. Associated activities included (a) selected readings, (b) attendance at an open AA meeting, (c) the formulation of thoughtful questions by the students, and (d) a single, interactive didactic session. Undergraduate psychology students responded positively when principles of experiential learning were applied to educational activities related to AA.