Question about ALANON Meetings - Al-Anon Family Group

Belle7 · Member

Question about ALANON Meetings

Cathyinaz · ~*Service Worker*~

RE: Alanine meetings

PP · ~*Service Worker*~

Welcome! I so understand your nervousness, I remember those feelings. To answer your question, meetings can vary in their execution, however, the principles of the 12 steps are universal, so you can feel at home wherever you go. People share their experiences if they want and others don't. There is never pressure to say anything and yet so much is gained by listening. Your story is everybody else's story. It is stated firmly that there is no gossip or criticism of one another and confidentiality is a priority. It is a safe place to be. I hope this gives you a little taste of what meetings are smile

cloudyskies · ~*Service Worker*~

Hi Belle and welcome to MIP. I'm glad you have found us. First of all, the people at al-anon meetings are just like you. They are people who are dealing with the effects of alcoholism. They know the pain and insanity that you have been living. I remember my first meeting. I went in broken carrying a heavy burden. When I came out my burden was a little lighter and has been getting lighter ever since. Al-Anon is a recovery program for people who have been affected by someone else's drinking.

Take care of you Belle and please keep coming back here.

Al-Anon works if you work it.

Belle7 · Member

RE: Question about ALANON Meetings

neshema2 · ~*Service Worker*~

Hey Belle....welcome and ya know what i did???

i began online and THEN went to fac2fac meets...i ended up going to online more b/c here in my state, TX, there just was no luck finding healthy alanon fac2fac meets...go figure!!! but anyway, i started on line...90 meets in 90 days to get settled in on some of my issues, what i had to work on, got support, etc...

then went to face to face ones and wasn't so scared...now this isn't recommended, they say try the fac2fac ones FIRST, but i was so shame based, i had to reverse it.......

but anyway, you go, sit, listen, share if you want, don't share if you don't want to...no compelling you to share if you want to sit and listen for the beginning...u r gonna learn no matter what you do and the fellowship is great....lots of good people and you find you are not alone in your struggles....

cloudyskies · ~*Service Worker*~

I remember having to ask some of the AAs where Al-Anon was meeting. Where I am, the AAs and Al-Anon meet in the same building. I was so nervous because I had to cross a room full of AAs to get to the Al-Anon room. One of the AAs must have known how nervous I was because he said "Al-Anon rocks!" smile I will never forget that because those two words put me at ease.

Al-Anon works if you work it.

neshema2 · ~*Service Worker*~

cloudyskies wrote:
I remember having to ask some of the AAs where Al-Anon was meeting. Where I am, the AAs and Al-Anon meet in the same building. I was so nervous because I had to cross a room full of AAs to get to the Al-Anon room. One of the AAs must have known how nervous I was because he said "Al-Anon rocks!" I will never forget that because those two words put me at ease.
Al-Anon works if you work it.

hey cloudy, we had ONE alanon meet set up the same way....it was this UGLY blueish building and you walk in and its like walking down a hallway, a giant hallway, and the alanons had to walk through the AA's to get to their room....I found the A's REAL friendly

once i went to an open AA meet where they welcome alanons and i learned a lot of stuff....and again, they were real welcoming to us alanons......i notice they don't cut any slack to the slackers....like i don't think they are big on enabling....the call a drinker out if they are "gaming" the program....that i noticed in that ONE meet....after wards, we hung out and chatted and it was very enlightening...

cloudyskies · ~*Service Worker*~

After I had a little time under my belt with Al-Anon, I went to some of the open AA meetings also. I have so much respect for these people. Some of them poured out their souls when describing their struggles. These open meetings has helped me understand my ah.

The material presented here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method to exchange information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal level.