In The Starfish and the Spider (2006), a book about decentralized organizations, one of the examples is Alcoholics Anonymous, started in 1935, in which local chapters are almost entirely autonomous from headquarters. Of course AA led to many similar programs: Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, and so on. All of these twelve-step programs offer therapy without therapists — for free. A little like the Protestant Reformation, which I mentioned earlier.
At a recent party I met a woman who runs an outpatient program for persons with mental disorders, including major depression. She asked me what I would suggest. Based on my faces research, I suggested early morning face-to-face meetings, especially for persons with depression. Very interesting, she said, AA folk wisdom is that morning meetings have the best success rates.
If you want to attend an early morning meeting (non-twelve-step), and you live in San Francisco, you may have a communal breakfast ($5 plus tax, served 8:30-9:30 am) at OneTaste (1074 Folsom at 7th St.), an “Urban Retreat Center”. If you can do this, I’m jealous. OneTaste is a group of 50 people who live and work together. They appear to support themselves by teaching yoga and giving other classes. They have been at their SF location for two years; before that they were at many different locations. The receptionist told me it was a “sensual community.” What’s that? I asked. “We try to activate our sensuality” etc., she said. I didn’t know what she meant. Is this on the website? I asked. Yes, she said, so I didn’t bother to take careful notes. I wish I had. The website puts it more bluntly: “Our purpose at OneTaste is to return to connection by researching our relationship to orgasm.” A recruitment video, to prepare for breakfast.
I repost, it seems I have some problems.
Very nice post. Now I think I have a reason why so many people like to have breakfast at a cafe (a habit I hate). It can´t be they are too lazuy to make a cup of coffee.
I think you’re right.
Unfortunately if you go to a cafe for breakfast you are unlikely to have long conversations with the other patrons. Which is why I like the OneTaste breakfast. The mother of a friend of mine suffered from severe depression; she couldn’t get out of bed. She got better when she started a business breakfast for women. Maybe other sorts of breakfast groups are possible.
if your comment does not appear after you post it it probably means the system treated it as spam.
Someone had trouble posting this:
Bill Wilson, the founder of AA, is an excellent example of someone who made a great discovery through self-experimentation. The AA program was adapted from an earlier program based on Wilson’s observations about what worked and what didn’t work for alcoholics. The entire program continued to be shaped by this type of experimentation and by group collaboration. AA is far from perfect, but evidence-based medicine has so far failed to come up with a treatment option that rivals the 12 step approach.
That’s a good point.