Al-Anon / Alateen , Al-Anon Family Groups and Al-Anon are different names for "whole world fellowship offering recovery programs for family and friends of alcoholics, whether alcoholics or not recognizing drinking problems or seeking help. " Alateen " is part of an Al-Anon alliance designed for young families and friends of alcoholics during adolescence ".
Video Al-Anon/Alateen
​​ Background
Al-Anon defines himself as an independent alliance with the stated purpose of helping relatives and friends of alcoholics. According to the organization, alcoholism is a family disease. "Preamble to the Twelve Steps" gives an overview:
The Al-Anon Family Group is an alliance of family and friends of alcoholics who share their experiences, strengths and hopes to solve their common problems. We believe alcoholism is a family disease and a changed attitude can help the recovery.
Al-Anon is not allied with any sect, denomination, political entity, organization, or institution; not involved in any controversy; does not endorse or oppose any cause. There is no fee for membership. Al-Anon supports himself through voluntary donations.
Al-Anon has one goal: to help families of alcoholics. We do this by practicing the Twelve Steps, by welcoming and comforting the families of alcoholics, and by providing understanding and encouragement to alcoholics.
Not an intervention program, Al-Anon has no main purpose to catch other people's liquors. Members meet in groups. Meetings are usually small (five to twenty five); in larger meetings, members are often divided into smaller groups after opening readings so everyone has a chance to talk.
Many Al-Anon family group meetings begin with "Recommended Al-Anon/Alateen Speech", which begins:
"We welcome you in [Name of Group] Al-Anon Family Group and hope you will find in this fellowship the help and friendship we have enjoyed in. We who are alive, or have lived, with the problem of alcoholism understand maybe few others can. also feel lonely and frustrated, but at Al-Anon we find that there is no situation that is completely hopeless, and that it is possible for us to find satisfaction, and even happiness, whether alcoholics are still drinking or not. "
Maps Al-Anon/Alateen
History
Al-Anon was founded in 1951, 16 years after the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous on June 10, 1935, by Anne S. and Lois W. (wife of AA co-founder Bill W.). Prior to Al-Anon's establishment, an independent group of alcoholic families met. "Bill thinks the group [se] can be consolidated and Lois should have taken it."
Al-Anon adopted the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous for their use "word for word with the exception of the Twelfth Step", changing the word "alcoholics" to "others" ("we try to bring this message to others"). Its name comes from the first part of the words "Alcoholics Anonymous". Alateen, part of Al-Anon, began in California in 1957 when a teenager named Bob "joined five other young people who had been affected by family members' alcoholism."
Destination
Although people usually turn to Al-Anon to help stop drinking others, the organization recognizes that friends and family of alcoholics are often traumatized and need emotional support and understanding. According to Lois W.:
After a while I began to wonder why I was not as happy as I ought to be, because the one thing I missed for all my marriage life [Bill's sobriety] has happened. Then one Sunday, Bill asked me if I was ready to go to a meeting with him. To my own amazement and also, I burst out with, "Damn your old meeting!" and throwing shoes as hard as I can.
This surprising outburst did not interest me and made me start analyzing my own attitude...
The purpose of my life to calm Bill, who has made me feel so needed, has vanished... I decided to fight for my own spiritual growth. I use the same principles as he did to learn how to change my attitude...
We started learning... that alcoholics couples must also live with spiritual programs.
Benefits
Problems
The Al-Anon/Alateen literature focuses on issues that are common to family members and friends of alcoholics such as excessive treatment taking, the inability to distinguish between love and compassion and loyalty to abusers, rather than alcoholics. Organizations recognize that members can join low self-esteem, largely a side effect of unrealistically exaggerating agents and their control: trying to control other people's drinking behaviors and, when they fail, blame themselves for the behavior of others.
Upgrade
Participation in Al-Anon has been associated with less personal blame by women who, overall, engage in early personal mistakes to drink than men. Family members of alcoholics begin to increase as they learn to recognize family pathology, assign responsibility for disease pathology, excuse themselves, accept that they are harmed by pathology and learn to accept the lack of family members.
Al-Anon members are encouraged to keep their focus on themselves, not on alcoholics. Although members believe that attitude changes can aid recovery, they emphasize that one person does not cause, can not cure and can not control the choices and behaviors of people associated with alcohol.
Alcoholism Treatment
Al-Anon's main goal is to help family and friends of alcoholics, rather than stopping alcoholism in others or helping with intervention. When an active alcoholic at Al-Anon and an active alcoholic in AA, alcoholics are more likely to not fast, marital happiness is more likely to be improved and parenting is more likely to be improved. A 1999 clinical analysis of the methods used by others concerned (CSOs) to encourage alcoholics to seek treatment shows that Al-Anon's participation is "largely ineffective" towards this goal. Psychologists find the approach to community empowerment and family training (CRAFT) "significantly more effective" than Al-Anon's participation in catching alcohol addiction to others.
Demographics
In 2007, Al-Anon Family Groups published the 2006 Member Survey Results about demographics and other information from Al-Anon members in Canada and the US. Of 645 respondents, 88 percent were identified as whites, 85 percent as women and 58 percent married. One-third of respondents have children under 21 at home. One finding is that "82 percent reported their mental health and wellbeing greatly increased because of Al-Anon".
For the 2006 Alateen Member Survey , conducted in the US, 139 Alateen members responded. Sixty-five percent of respondents were women, 35 percent were male, 72 percent were white and 20 percent spoke Spanish fluently. The average age of respondents is 14 years. Structure
The Al-Anon Family Group structure can be described as an inverted pyramid, with the headquarters of the organization (World Service Office) at the bottom and the "autonomous" group at the top.
Groups
Members of Al-Anon and Alateen meet in groups for fellowship and support. Each group can choose group representatives to represent groups in districts and regional meetings.
District
In Houston, Al-Anon and Alateen's groups voted for the GRs to attend a district meeting in the Eastern Five District District of Texas. At these meetings they discuss service activities, group issues and are forums for groups and information from regions and WSOs, with GRs having the right to vote. A district can organize regular events, such as workshops and speaker meetings, for local alliances.
Area
An area consists of several districts. Texas is divided into two regions of Al-Anon, East and West. Each Texas region has about a dozen Al-Anon districts, totaling about 24 in the state. Each region has regular meetings (known as assemblies) where the GRs meet and vote on issues affecting the area, organize workshops and speakers, and bring back area information to their groups.
World Services
At the regional assembly, GRs elect a delegate to the annual World Service Conference. The WSC meets annually to interact with the World Service Office, administered by administrators and supervised by the Supervisory Board (who meet more frequently on a regular basis).
Democracy and accountability
Al-Anon promotes democracy and accountability. According to one of the General Guarantees of the Conference, "That although the Conference serves Al-Anon will never take government action, and that like the Al-Anon Family Group fellowship it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action." Other countries " That no member of the Conference should be placed in a non-qualified authority over another member. "
According to Tradition Two of the Twelve Traditions of Al-Anon, for the group "Our leader is only a trusted servant - they do not rule." Tradition Nine says, "Our groups, like that, should never be governed, but we can create a service board or committee that is directly accountable to those they serve." Districts and regions are directly responsible to the group.
The World Service Office is accountable to the World Service Conference. The conference is accountable to the regions through an elected delegation and ultimately responsible to the groups. According to the One Concept of the Twelve Concepts of Al-Anon Services, "The highest responsibility and authority for Al-Anon's world service belongs to the Al-Anon group."
In the movie
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments