Al-Anon is perhaps the 12 step fellowship most closely associated with Alcoholics Anonymous.
In the early days of AA virtually all members were men, and their wives would go with them to meetings and normally sit in the kitchen and chat to each other.
After a while, the wives realised that they actually needed their own fellowship and effectively startedย Al-Anon.
Over time it has grown into a fellowship that encompasses anyone who feels they have been affected by the family illness of alcoholism.
This can include wives, husbands, partners, children, grandchildren, parents, uncles, aunts etc.
The main focus of Al Anon is really about helping anyone who feels that their life or their sense of self has been lost through their relationship with anyone who has a drink problem or is an alcoholic.
Al-Anon talks about generational alcoholism, with the understanding that the effects of alcoholism can affect anyone associated with it, even several generations later.
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