We Need Feedback about 12-Step Meeting Etiquette

At our treatment center,  we strive every day to become more client friendly and continue improving the treatment we provide. We would like to take this opportunity to ask for feedback from our peers and the greater recovery community.

12 Step Meeting Etiquette Question

The question is: Should people who are in recovery be allowed to leave a meeting to take a phone call or a  cigarette break while the meeting is in progress?

My first reaction to this question is No. – It is rude and lacks etiquette and discipline.   
Though after a lengthy discussion with a client the other evening, I can see the other side of the argument, especially when I reflect on my own experience when I was a new person in recovery.

I have even pondered what I think Bill W’s reaction might be to this question.

Balancing Structured and Newfound Freedom

One of the reasons I love Sober Living by the Sea is that there is a supportive structure in place for people new in recovery.  Though at the same time there is plenty of freedom as well so that men and women can "get their feet wet" and really learn the joys of living in sobriety while still having that support system in place. Sober Living by the Sea  is great for recovering people because it was designed by recovering people.

As we facilitate 12-Step meetings on site and also chaperone our clients to like meetings out in the community, we are faced with the decision about whether or not they should be required to remain in the support group meeting for the duration or be allowed to get up and take a break when they want to.

The bottom line is that I am going enforce the policy that our clinical staff deems most appropriate and beneficial to the treamtent process (though I hope they read this before permanent rules are set in place).

If the treatment center staff acts as the "Meeting Police" does that break the AA Traditions?

What Would Bill Say?

If I had the opportunity to ask the founder of AA Bill Wilson, I imagine he may remind me of several traditions and principles and paragraphs in the book that would support our clients' position that they should have the freedom to come and go as they please.

First of all,  AA meetings were formed for the "newcomer" to find us, so meetings may be considered "for the new comer."

Secondly, Many of us enter the rooms of AA with a hundred forms of fear, self delusion, and self pity.  It is not reasonable to expect us to come in with etiquette and discipline.

Also, the book states clearly that members of AA "do not govern," and that "the only requirement to be a member is a desire to stop drinking."

Finally, the AA program is a program of attraction rather then promotion.

Soberliving by the Sea is one of the most customer service oriented treatment centers in the world. I have worked there now over 5 years and I am often reminded that we are not AA, but a residential treatment center that provides many therapeutic processes and activities.

After reading this I am curious what others who are in recovery or have experienced life at at treatment facility like ours:

Should a person in recovery be encouraged to walk out of a meeting for any reason they feel necessary?