AL-ANON 12 STEPS
AL-ANON 12 STEPS
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
© Al-Anon’s Twelve Steps, copyright 1996 by Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.
AL-ANON DO’S & DONT’S
AL-ANON DO’S AND DONT’S
DO…
Forgive
Be honest with yourself
Be humble
Take it easy – Tension is harmful
Play – Find recreation and hobbies
Keep on trying whenever you fail
Learn all the facts about alcoholism
Attend Al-Anon meetings often
Pray
DON’T…
Be self-righteous
Try to dominate, nag, scold or complain
Lose your temper
Try to push anyone but yourself
Keep bringing up the past
Keep checking up on the alcoholic
Wallow in self-pity
Make threats you don’t intend to carry out
Be over-protective
Be a doormat
Text courtesy of Al-Anon
DETACHMENT
DETACHMENT
Detachment is neither kind nor unkind. It does not imply judgement or condemnation of the person or situation from which we are detaching. Separating ourselves from the adverse effects of another person’s alcoholism can be a means of detaching, this does not necessarily require physical separation. Detachment can help us look at our situations realistically and objectively.
Alcoholism is a family disease. Living with the effects of someone else’s drinking is too devastating for most people to bear without help.
In Al-Anon we learn nothing we say or do can cause or stop someone else’s drinking. We are not responsible for another person’s disease or recovery from it.
Detachment allows us to let go of our obsession with another’s behavior and begin to lead happier and more manageable lives, lives with dignity and rights, lives guided by a Power greater than ourselves. We can still love the person without liking the behavior.
Text courtesy of Al-Anon