Welcome to Al-Anon. Welcome home.

This page contains some basic information for those who are new to the Al-Anon program. If you still have questions or want to find a local meeting, please consult Al-Anon’s World Service website: http://al-anon.alateen.org/. For any other questions you may have about Al-Anon or A Serenity Place, please contact ASP’s List Administrator at list_administrator@asp-afg.org.

The Serenity Prayer and the Al-Anon Suggested Welcome open each of our daily meetings here at A Serenity Place:

Serenity Prayer:

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.

We welcome you to A Serenity Place online Al-Anon meeting and hope you will find in this fellowship the help and friendship we have been privileged to enjoy.

We who live, or have lived, with the problem of alcoholism understand as perhaps few others can. We, too, were lonely and frustrated, but in Al-Anon we discover that no situation is really hopeless, and that it is possible for us to find contentment, and even happiness, whether the alcoholic is still drinking or not.

We urge you to try our program. It has helped many of us find solutions that lead to serenity. So much depends on our own attitudes, and as we learn to place our problem in its true perspective, we find it loses its power to dominate our thoughts and our lives.

The family situation is bound to improve as we apply the Al-Anon ideas. Without such spiritual help, living with an alcoholic is too much for most of us. Our thinking becomes distorted by trying to force solutions, and we become irritable and unreasonable without knowing it.

The Al-Anon program is based on the suggested Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, which we try, little by little, one day at a time, to apply to our lives along with our slogans and the Serenity Prayer. The loving interchange of help among members and daily reading of Al-Anon literature thus make us ready to receive the priceless gift of serenity.

Anonymity is an important principle of the Al-Anon/Alateen 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 on our minds and in our hearts, for this is how we help one another in Al-Anon. We ask members of other anonymous fellowships to remain anonymous and focus on the Al-Anon program.

Tools of the Program

Meetings
Sponsorship
12 Steps
12 Traditions
12 Concepts of Service
Al-Anon Slogans
Conference Approved Literature

New Member Podcasts

First Steps Podcasts for New Members

Suggested Al-Anon Preamble To The Twelve Steps

“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 in recovery.

“Al-Anon is not allied with any sect, denomination, political entity, organization or institution. It 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.”

~Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual, page 53

Violence

If we are dealing with physical violence, it is imperative to ensure both our safety and the safety of our young children.

“My first alcoholic husband could be violent when he was drinking. I learned in Al-Anon to not provoke a fight and to detach. I learned to keep myself safe and to always be prepared for a quick exit. I kept car keys handy, usually a blanket or sleeping bag in my vehicle and often a change of clothes and spare toiletries. I lived in a northern climate so having a emergency kit in the vehicle was standard procedure especially in winter. I was not ready to leave  permanently but I knew that I had to stay safe. I often stayed with friends when I knew he was drinking.

“In Al-Anon I learned that I had choices. No one told me that I should leave or not–just told me to keep myself safe.” – Anonymous ASP member