What Is Al-Anon and Alateen?

History, Meaning, and Philosophy of Al-Anon and Alateen

Support group members comfort family member

Izabela Habur / Getty Images

Al-Anon and Alateen are two programs that are part of a worldwide fellowship that offers support to families of alcoholics. Al-Anon is designed to help spouses, parents, siblings, and other family members, while Alateen is specifically geared toward younger people living with an alcoholic.

At a Glance

Al-Anon (meaning Alcoholics Anonymous) is a mutual support group for people who have been affected by a loved one's drinking. Alateen is a similar family group that supports young people who live with or who have been affected by alcohol.

Similiar to the AA program for people with alcohol use problems, Al-Anon follows a 12-step model and provides a supportive environment where people can find encouragement and support from people who are going through similar experiences.

An Overview of Al-Anon and Alateen

Both groups are based on a spiritual, non-religious ethos from which members derive insight from being part of a collective (as opposed to engaging in one-on-one support).

While many people turn to Al-Anon and Alateen for help with a loved one's drinking problems, neither are intervention programs. Instead, they recognize that people living with an alcoholic can be traumatized and focus their efforts on caring for those individuals' needs.

It's normal for family members to want to help their loved one who has a drinking problem, but it can take a toll on the well-being of both individuals and families. The effects can include financial problems, defensiveness, legal woes, negative emotions, stress, anxiety, depression, family problems, and violence.

Support groups can help people learn to recognize the differences between enabling and helping, learn how to prioritize their own needs, and practice detachment to minimize the stress and harm that drinking causes.

As with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Al-Anon and Alateen are closely based on a 12-step model (known, aptly, as the Twelve Steps), which is designed as a "tool for spiritual growth."

History of Al-Anon and Alateen

As early as 1939, families began to attend AA meetings along with their alcoholic family members. By actively engaging in the Twelve Steps, many of these people began to see the benefits of incorporating the principles into their own lives and family dynamics. Over time, some of these family groups formed their own independent meetings.

In 1948, several of these groups applied to the AA General Service Office to be listed in the member directory. After being denied inclusion, Lois W. (wife of AA co-founder Bill W.) and Anne B., a close family friend, decided to create a committee to help coordinate and service these independent groups.

Al-Anon Meaning

In 1951, Al-Anon was officially established with 56 member groups across the continental United States. They chose the name from the first syllables of "Alcoholics Anonymous" and, in keeping with the founding principles, adopted the Twelve Steps (and later the Twelve Traditions) in a slightly modified form.

The first Alateen meetings, meanwhile, were established in 1957 specifically for members between the ages of 12 and 19. While functioning on their own, these groups are facilitated by an adult Al-Anon member, called a sponsor.

How Al-Anon and Alateen Work

The Al-Anon and Alateen Twelve Steps are closely aligned to those of AA. The basic principle of the model is that people can help heal each other—but only if they surrender to a higher power.

It is important to remember that Al-Anon and Alateen are not treatment programs. Instead, they are about sharing personal experiences so that other members can find strength and consider how they might apply those lessons to their own lives.

While the Twelve Steps can be a force for good in families who are suffering, there are those who struggle with the spiritual, quasi-religious, male-centric premise of the program.

For individual who don't feel comfortable with the spiritual elements of the Al-Anon and Alateen Twelve Steps programs, there are alternatives to the 12-step methodology which do not rely on the concept of a "higher power."

Al-Anon and Alateen Alternatives

If you need support but Al-Anon and Alateen don't seem right for you, consider SMART Recovery Family & Friends or NAMI Family Support Group.

Al-Anon and Alateen Twelve Steps

For those who embrace the Al-Anon and Alateen approach, the 12 steps are broken down as follows:

  1. Honesty: Admitting that you are powerless over alcohol and that your life has become unmanageable
  2. Faith: Believing that a power greater than yourself can restore you to sanity
  3. Surrender: Making the decision to turn your will and life over to the care of God in whatever form that may be
  4. Soul searching: Taking a fearless moral inventory of yourself
  5. Integrity: Admitting to God, yourself, and others of the exact nature of your wrongdoings
  6. Acceptance: Being ready to have God remove these defects from your character
  7. Humility: Actively asking God to remove these defects
  8. Willingness: Making a list of all those you have harmed and being willing to make amends
  9. Forgiveness: Making amends wherever possible (except when doing so would cause harm)
  10. Maintenance: Continuing to take a moral inventory of yourself and admitting when you are wrong
  11. Making contact: Seeking to improve your connection with God and to pray for knowledge and the power to carry out God's will
  12. Service: Carrying these messages to others and practicing these principles in your daily life
5 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Al-Anon Family Groups. What is Al-Anon and Alateen?

  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Alcohol and substance use.

  3. Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. The Twelve Steps.

  4. Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Al-Anon Timeline.

  5. Kelly JF. Is Alcoholics Anonymous religious, spiritual, neither? Findings from 25 years of mechanisms of behavior change researchAddiction. 2017;112(6):929-936. doi:10.1111/add.13590

Additional Reading

By Buddy T
Buddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Because he is a member of a support group that stresses the importance of anonymity at the public level, he does not use his photograph or his real name on this website.