Running head: OVEREATERS SUPPORT REFLECTION 1

Overeaters Support Reflection

Robyn R. Kent

Southeastern Louisiana University

College of Nursing and Health Sciences

School of Nursing

NURS 383

September 28, 2019

OVEREATERS SUPPORT REFLECTION 2

Overeaters Support Reflection

1. How did you go about finding or accessing an “in person” group meeting? Attach your
findings.
The meeting source came from overeaters anonymous Baton Rouge intergroup website

retrieved from https://oabatonrouge.org.

2. Where was the meeting located (place), time, day, date, length of meeting and cost if any?
Was it easily accessible? What type of transportation did most people use that attended? Was
there a cost involved?
Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 10:30 am located at Jefferson United Methodist Church,

10328 Jefferson Hwy, in the “Parlor.” The meeting ended at roughly 11:30 a.m. There was no

cost associated along with it, however, I did notice what seemed to be a donation envelope. The

meeting was easily accessible, and attendees drove their own vehicle to meeting.

3. The number of attendees? Describe the group in terms of sex, race, age, and socioeconomic
class.
There was a total of 12 people in attendance. The demographics were two males and ten

females. In attendance were ten Caucasians and two African Americans. The socioeconomic

classes appeared to be primarily from the working class. One gentleman had on a work-related

polo shirt and there were several older women in the group were of retirement age. Most of the

group consisted of mid-forties to fifty-year-old women. I observed wedding rings on the hands

of most attendees but did not have spouse in attendance with them.

4. Were the “rules “, 12 steps, 12 promises and disclaimers discussed at the beginning and
which were you surprised about? Did people greet you and introduce you to the concepts. Did
you feel uncomfortable at first? DID that change as the meeting progressed? Explain.
The overeaters 12 step rules were discussed briefly, and guidelines were addressed right up

front prior to the start of the meeting. The guideline that did surprise the most is the prevention

of crosstalk of other groups. Disclaimers and limitations of sources of information that would be

referred to and that only documentation from overeaters anonymous would be referenced. We
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were greeted by the leader and welcomed to the by the group. I did not feel uncomfortable by

attendance, the atmosphere and people were very welcoming. As the meeting progressed, I felt

that there would be some therapeutic value to me by attending the group.

5. Discuss the group dynamics? Was there a leader? Was there cross talk? Was there a theme
and what was it? What where some of the comments that you noted relating to the theme and
expound on them.
The group was very easy going with no sense of judgement and open to hear one another.

The support was very apparent as an integral part in the process. The level of sharing

information was up to the individual. There was a primary leader and another member that

would time and give a thirty second warning when time of sharing was ending. No cross talk

was permitted within the meeting. The selected theme from the reading was sharing. After

reading a short quote related to sharing there was a three-minute time frame in which to share

their feelings for the session. Some individuals commented on acknowledging that there is a

perception that when issues arise the ability to call a support person can deter the negative

behavior. Another member stated “I have finally come to realization that a man can try and push

a large boulder up a hill, but when I get tired the boulder wants to roll back over me. Through

this program I have come to clarity to realize that I just need to ask a few friends to help me push

the boulder up the hill and I will have success”. I thought wow what a great moment of

realization considering in human nature the tendency to think if you cannot do it by yourself

there is weakness, but it is just the opposite.

6. Was it a step meeting and which steps were discussed? Were there any religious or non-
religious prayers / meditations performed?
The step meeting was based off the third step was admitting that one had to turn will and

lives to God. There were some religious ties discussed by people using faith to help accomplish
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goals set for themselves. The third step prayer done at the end was referencing God and will to

be able to continue progressing through the steps of recovery.

7. What was the style of the seating arrangements? How did that impact the group dynamics?
The positioning of couches and chairs were set into a circular fashion to enable constant

view of one another and a sense of cohesion. The setup allowed an organized pattern of sharing

of which was timed for three minutes each.

8. What preconceived ideas did you have about the organizations? Where there any changes in
your beliefs after the meeting? Expound on these.
I have been to nutritional training courses prior to gastric bariatric surgery and there were

many overweight individuals. I assumed there would be a similar group of overweight people,

but most were average build, and, on the street, I would have never thought the person would be

in a overeaters group. As I listened and digested the information within the group, I realized

overeating is a compulsion stemming from many different sources and not just based on eating

and gaining weight. An individual can require support to maintain control over this desire to

binge, purge or even self-treat using food as the cure of an underlying situation.

9. Did you identify any mental health issues in the group?

Anxiety seemed to be a common stressor implied in many of the statements during sharing.

Another attendee spoke with me and stated “grief is a large part associated with overeating” in

order to deal with unresolved emotional stressors.

10. Name and discuss two concepts that you personally found beneficial about this experience.
Discuss any “turn offs” and what about it made that emotion become apparent to you?
The first concept that I found beneficial is that just putting the food down is only the

beginning and the underlying contributing deep factors will need to be addressed. The second

concept in all support groups is that there is no reason to struggle alone when others are available

to help and are at different stages of progression with different experiences that can help.
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References

“Baton Rouge and Lafayette Meetings.” Overeaters Anonymous Baton Rouge Intergroup, 2019.

https://oabatonrouge.org/localmeetings/.