By Dominique Tassell
A new Alcoholics Anonymous group has started up this week, for women only.
While the group was supposed to start on Wednesday 1 December, wet weather delayed this.
The group will run from 1 pm to 2:30 pm, and anyone interested can contact Gillian on 0410 768 959.
Gillian says attendees “don’t even need to think that they have a problem” as the group is very welcoming and informative.
She says the wonderful thing about AA is that no one labels anyone and it’s up to the individual.
She says some people attend the group and never feel comfortable labelling themselves, but the purpose of the group is just to help each other.
Gillian says there are really no criteria but a desire to stop drinking, even if this is binge-drinking once a month or having a nightly drink.
She says for her personally, “I found that there is a lot of healing being around women”.
She says in AA “it’s an absolute requirement to be honest”, and for women being honest and talking about real life topics is incredibly healing.
There are no limits on how many people can attend, and Gillian emphasises that the group is very supportive and more than welcoming.
“When people walk into the room, they’re not alone,” she says. “Everyone belongs.”
Gillian says it’s important for people to break the stigma around drinking, especially in a culture like Australia’s where it’s almost unheard of to not drink.
She says if alcoholism is present in your life and you don’t want it to be, reach out to attend a meeting.
“You don’t need to be at rock bottom, you can just be sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
