What is Al‑Anon? Who is It for?
What is Al‑Anon?
The Al‑Anon Family Groups are a fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength, and hope in order to solve their common problems. We believe alcoholism is a family illness and that changed attitudes can aid recovery.
Al‑Anon is not allied with any sect, denomination, political entity, organization, or institution; does not engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any cause. There are no dues for membership. Al‑Anon is self-supporting through its own voluntary contributions.
Al‑Anon has but one purpose: to help families of alcoholics. We do this by practicing the Twelve Steps, by welcoming and giving comfort to families of alcoholics, and by giving understanding and encouragement to the alcoholic.
Suggested Al‑Anon Preamble to the Twelve Steps. ©Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.
What are Al‑Anon Adult Children Groups?
Al‑Anon Adult Children Groups arose out of the realization that many members of Al‑Anon had grown up in families affected by alcoholism. What was experienced as children continues to affect us as adults. By meeting with others who were similarly affected, we come to a better understanding of ourselves.
We help each other by sharing our experience, strength, and hope.
Who is Al‑Anon for?
Al‑Anon is for anyone affected by someone else's drinking, regardless of ethnic background, religion, or sexual orientation:
Is Al‑Anon for me?
The following links are to questionaires provided by the Al‑Anon World Service Office that may help you decide if Al‑Anon may be for you. Select a quiz, listed below, and ask yourself the questions. If you identify with some of the sentiments, we encourage you to give Al‑Anon or Alateen a try!
What is Alateen?
Alateen, part of Al‑Anon Family Groups, is for young people who have been affected by alcoholism in a family member or friend. We help each other by sharing our experience, strength, and hope.
In Alateen we focus on our own program rather than outside issues such as religion, politics, social media, or other Twelve Step programs. There are no dues for membership. Alateen is self-supporting through its own voluntary contributions. Alateen has one purpose: to help young people affected by someone else's drinking. We are careful to protect each other's anonymity as well that of all Al‑Anon and A.A. members.
By applying the Twelve Steps to ourselves, we begin to recover from the effects of the family disease of alcoholism mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This allows us to encourage our alcoholic relatives and friends, and to give hope to other teens.
*Alateen Suggested Preamble to the Twelve Steps from ALATEEN - a day at a time. ©Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Used with permission.
What are the Steps, Traditions and Concepts?
The Twelve Steps, the Twelve Traditions, the Twelve Concepts of Service are Al-Anon's three Legacies. The spiritual principles of the Al-Anon program derive from these Legacies.
The Twelve Steps
Study of these Steps is essential to progress in the Al‑Anon program. The principles they embody are universal, applicable to everyone, whatever your personal creed. In Al‑Anon, we strive for an ever-deeper understanding of these Steps, and pray for the wisdom to apply them to our lives.
Twelve Steps
| 1. | We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable. |
| 2. | Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. |
| 3. | Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. |
| 4. | Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. |
| 5. | Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. |
| 6. | Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. |
| 7. | Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. |
| 8. | Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. |
| 9. | Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. |
| 10. | Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. |
| 11. | Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. |
| 12. | Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. |
Al‑Anon's Twelve Steps, copyright 1996 by Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.
The Twelve Traditions - Al-Anon
These guidelines are a means of promoting harmony and growth in Al‑Anon groups and in the worldwide fellowship of Al‑Anon as a whole. Our group experience suggests that our unity depends upon our adherence to these Traditions.
Twelve Traditions
| 1. | Our common welfare should come first; personal progress for the greatest number depends upon unity. |
| 2. | For our group purpose there is but one authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants—they do not govern. |
| 3. | The relatives of alcoholics, when gathered together for mutual aid, may call themselves an Al‑Anon Family Group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation. The only requirement for membership is that there be a problem of alcoholism in a relative or friend. |
| 4. | Each group should be autonomous, except in matters affecting another group or Al‑Anon or AA as a whole. |
| 5. | Each Al‑Anon Family Group has but one purpose: to help families of alcoholics. We do this by practicing the Twelve Steps of AA ourselves, by encouraging and understanding our alcoholic relatives, and by welcoming and giving comfort to families of alcoholics. |
| 6. | Our Family Groups ought never endorse, finance or lend our name to any outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary spiritual aim. Although a separate entity, we should always co-operate with Alcoholics Anonymous. |
| 7. | Every group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. |
| 8. | Al‑Anon Twelfth Step work should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers. |
| 9. | Our groups, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve. |
| 10. | The Al‑Anon Family Groups have no opinion on outside issues; hence our name ought never be drawn into public controversy. |
| 11. | Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, and TV. We need guard with special care the anonymity of all AA members. |
| 12. | Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles above personalities. |
Al‑Anon's Twelve Traditions, copyright 1996 by Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.
The Twelve Traditions - Alateen
Our group experience suggests that the unity of the Alateen Groups depends upon our adherence to these Traditions.
Twelve Traditions - Alateen
| 1. | Our common welfare should come first; personal progress for the greatest number depends upon unity. |
| 2. | For our group purpose there is but one authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants—they do not govern. |
| 3. | The only requirement for membership is that there be a problem of alcoholism in a relative or friend. The teenage relatives of alcoholics, when gathered together for mutual aid, may call themselves an Alateen Group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation. |
| 4. | Each group should be autonomous, except in matters affecting other Alateen and Al-Anon Family Groups or AA as a whole. |
| 5. | Each Alateen Group has but one purpose: to help other teenagers of alcoholics. We do this by practicing the Twelve Steps of AA ourselves and by encouraging and understanding the members of our immediate families. |
| 6. | Alateens, being part of the Al‑Anon Family Groups, ought never endorse, finance or lend our name to any outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary spiritual aim. Although a separate entity, we should always co-operate with Alcoholics Anonymous. |
| 7. | Every group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. |
| 8. | Alateen Twelfth Step work should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers. |
| 9. | Our groups, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve. |
| 10. | The Alateen Groups have no opinion on outside issues; hence our name ought never be drawn into public controversy. |
| 11. | Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, and TV. We need guard with special care the anonymity of all AA members. |
| 12. | Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles above personalities. |
Alateen's Twelve Traditions, copyright 1996 by Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.
The Twelve Concepts of Service
The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions are guides for personal growth and group unity. The Twelve Concepts are guides for service. They show how Twelve Step work can be done on a broad scale and how members of the World Service Office can relate to each other and to the groups, through a World Service Conference, to spread Al‑Anon's message worldwide.
Twelve Concepts of Service
| 1. | The ultimate responsibility and authority for Al‑Anon world services belongs to the Al‑Anon groups. |
| 2. | The Al‑Anon Family Groups have delegated complete administrative and operational authority to their Conference and its service arms. |
| 3. | The right of decision makes effective leadership possible. |
| 4. | Participation is the key to harmony. |
| 5. | The rights of appeal and petition protect minorities and insure that they be heard. |
| 6. | The Conference acknowledges the primary administrative responsibility of the Trustees. |
| 7. | The Trustees have legal rights while the rights of the Conference are traditional. |
| 8. | The Board of Trustees delegates full authority for routine management of Al‑Anon Headquarters to its executive committees. |
| 9. | Good personal leadership at all service levels is a necessity. In the field of world service the Board of Trustees assumes the primary leadership. |
| 10. | Service responsibility is balanced by carefully defined service authority and double‑headed management is avoided. |
| 11. | The World Service Office is composed of selected committees, executives and staff members. |
| 12. | The spiritual foundation for Al‑Anon's world services is contained in the General Warranties of the Conference, Article 12 of the Charter. |
Al‑Anon's Concepts, copyright 1996 by Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.
General Warranties of the Conference
In all proceedings the World Service Conference of Al‑Anon shall observe the spirit of the Traditions:
| 1. | that only sufficient operating funds, including an ample reserve, be its prudent financial principle; |
| 2. | that no Conference member shall be placed in unqualified authority over other members; |
| 3. | that all decisions be reached by discussion, vote and whenever possible by unanimity; |
| 4. | that no Converence action ever by personally punitive or an incitement to public controversy; |
| 5. | that through the Conference serves Al‑Anon it shall never perform any act of government; and that like the fellowship of Al‑Anon Family Groups which it serves, it shall always remain democratic in thought and action. |
Al‑Anon's General Warranties of the Conference, copyright 1996 by Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.
What are the Al‑Anon slogans?
The slogans are reminders that help us cope with different situations. They are part of Al‑Anon's literature and as we learn more about the Al‑Anon program, we discover their benefits. When the slogans come to mind they can help us cope with life events more smoothly.
Why only Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature (CAL)?
Conference Approved Literature (CAL) is literature that has the Conference Approved Literature seal seen here.
If it doesn't have the seal, it is not Conference Approved Literature. Conference Approved Literature is written
by Al‑Anon members, approved by Al‑Anon members, is for Al‑Anon members, and is written from the Al‑Anon point of view.
It ensures that all the principles of Al‑Anon are adhered to.
Al‑Anon only uses Conference Approved Literature (CAL) in order to keep the focus on what brings us together: to recover from the effects of living, or have lived with, someone else's drinking. Anything else has the potential of dividing us. The success of our program is rooted in sharing our experience, strength, and hope. It is our common experience that is the foundation upon which this is built.
Other Questions Newcomers Ask
How much is this going to cost?
There are no dues or fees for Al‑Anon and Alateen meetings. Most groups pass a basket for voluntary contributions. Members are asked to contribute what they can afford, so that the group can pay rent, provide literature, and offer support to local and worldwide service centers.
Is this a religious fellowship?
Al‑Anon Family Groups is a spiritual fellowship, not a religious one. We avoid discussion of specific religious doctrine, and members of all faiths (or of none) are welcome. Our Twelve Steps ask us to find a "Power greater than ourselves" who can help us solve our problems and find serenity. Each member is free to define that power in his or her own way.
Why is anonymity important?
Tradition 12: Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles above personalities.
Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.
Meetings are confidential. We do not disclose whom we see or what we hear at meetings to anyone. The assurance of anonymity is essential in our effort to help families and friends of alcoholics. The promise of confidentiality allows Al‑Anon and Alateen meetings to offer a safe place where families and friends of alcoholics can ask for and receive help and understanding. We share as equals, regardless of social, educational, or financial position.
What is the Serenity Prayer?
Many Al‑Anon meetings begin and/or end with the Serenity Prayer. Al‑Anon suggests the words of the Serenity Prayer can help us gain perspective, sort out what we can and cannot do, and know when to act and when to let go.
| God grant me the serenity |
| To accept the things I cannot change, |
| Courage to change the things I can, |
| And wisdom to know the difference. |
What is the Al‑Anon Declaration?
Many Al‑Anon meetings end with the Al‑Anon Declaration.
| Let It Begin with Me. |
| When anyone, anywhere reaches out for help,let the hand of Al‑Anon and Alateen always |
| be there,and—Let It Begin with Me. |
©Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.
What is Detachment?
Detachment is neither kind nor unkind. It does not imply judgment or condemnation of the person or situation from which we are detaching. Separating ourselves from the adverse effects of another person's alcoholism can be a means of detaching: this does not necessarily require physical separation.
©Al‑Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.
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