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Al-Anon is not a free-for-all where anything goes. We do have guidelines that are intended to make our meeting a safe place for members of Al-Anon to share their experience, strength and hope (ESH) with other members.

In order for us to fulfill our primary purpose of being there to help friends and family of alcoholics, making A Serenity Place a safe place for members to share their experience, strength and hope is our #1 goal. This means that we do not critique the shares of other members. Just as not everyone’s life is pretty, not all shares are “pretty”. Some members are deeply caught up in the ugliness of alcoholism, and as a result shares sometimes paint graphic images of alcoholism. We do not critique or limit members shares regarding length, grammar, profanity, or references to the violence that often accompanies this disease.

Yet, we do have guidelines for sharing:

  1. Members are asked NOT to repeat (copy) any part of other members’ shares to anyone outside ASP at any time.
  2. Members are asked to avoid quoting personal shares publicly within the group.  Please do not use the “Reply to All” function when responding to a member’s share.
  3. In Al-Anon we help each other by sharing our personal experience, strength and hope – we refrain from giving advice.
  4. At A Serenity Place we use ONLY Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature (CAL) and refrain from discussion of therapy or other 12-step groups. Please remember that jokes, poems, inspirational writings, etc. are not CAL and should NOT sent to the meeting. Exceptions are brief references to the AA Big Book and things you have written yourself.
  5. Avoid unsolicited invitations to social media sites or commercial ventures. Please be mindful of allowing social media sites access to your address book. Unsolicited invitations to ‘friend’ another member of ASP is not acceptable. OTOH, there is nothing wrong with an invitation between members that have established a personal relationship outside of the meeting.
  6. “Anonymity is an important principle of the Al-Anon program. Everything that is said here, in the group meeting and member-to-member, must be held in confidence. Only in this way can we feel free to say what is in our minds and hearts, for this is how we help one another in Al-Anon.” 
    Suggested Al-Anon Opening.

Do you understand these guidelines?

      

Updated: Monday, April 30, 2018, 7:30 PM UTC