AlAnonAlateen

Al-Anon Family Groups is a worldwide mutual support program for people affected by someone else’s drinking. Founded in 1951, it provides local meetings, literature, and a framework for recovery by sharing experience, strength, and hope. The program emphasizes anonymity, confidentiality, and nonjudgmental support, and it follows a version of the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous for families and friends of alcoholics.

Alateen is the related program for younger relatives and friends, typically teenagers aged roughly 12 to 20 who have been affected by another person’s drinking. Alateen meetings are run by trained volunteers and often coordinated with local Al-Anon groups, offering education about alcoholism, coping skills, and a supportive peer network while maintaining the same core values of anonymity and mutual aid.

Organizationally, Al-Anon Family Groups operates through a network of local groups that report to district and area structures, culminating in a World Service Office. It is a non-profit, volunteer-led organization. Meetings vary in format, including discussion and step-based sessions, all designed to be welcoming to newcomers and those seeking renewal.

Al-Anon and Alateen are not formal branches of Alcoholics Anonymous, but they are related organizations that share philosophy, language, and literature. They remain independent in governance while aligning in purpose: to support families and friends of alcoholics and to help them recover from the effects of another person’s drinking.