Since 1951, Al-Anon has been providing fellowship and support to people all over the world. These individuals have one unique thing in common; they love someone with an alcohol use disorder. Attending Al-Anon meetings can provide access to a family therapy program so you can better your loved one’s addiction. At TruHealing Centers, we value the effect of Al-Anon. But, what exactly is Al-Anon?
What Are Al-Anon Family Groups?
Al-Anon is a mutual support group for people who are facing similar challenges. They are affected by someone else’s addiction. These groups provide a chance for you to share your own experiences and hear other people’s stories regarding addiction.
Al-Anon founder Lois W. was the wife of the man that started Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The Al-Anon program follows the same concept as AA. They are anonymous, for example. They also provide a 12-step format that allows you to see the impact of alcohol use disorder on yourself and your family member. It is a place to recognize that alcoholism is a disease that affects families as much as it does one individual.
Who Can Attend Al-Anon Family Groups?
Al-Anon welcomes anyone into their groups. The only qualification is you need is someone in your life who has an alcohol use disorder. It can be a close family member or even just a good friend.
The point is that their condition has a direct impact on you. It may impact your life, or maybe it affects how you feel. You can take part in Al-Anon support groups whether your loved one is in treatment or not. They don’t even have to recognize they have an addiction for you to attend.
What Are Some Benefits of Al-Anon Family Groups?
The exact benefits will depend on what you need to get from this kind of group therapy program. For some, it’s just a better understanding of addiction. Others need the 12-step program that comes with Al-Anon to deal with what is happening in their lives because of someone else’s alcohol use disorder.
Often, the benefit is to end the cycle of codependency that can come with loving someone addicted to alcohol. Codependency means the things you do can enable your loved one’s alcohol abuse and make it difficult for them to quit drinking.
Al-Anon is just one kind of family therapy program. You can also go through an addiction or mental health facility such as TruHealing Centers to get therapy.
TruHealing Centers offers a full continuum of care for clients that can include family therapy. It’s a way for families to get the support they need as someone they care about goes through treatment.
Services at TruHealing Centers include:
- Residential treatment
- Outpatient services
- Gender-specific care
- Medically-supervised detox
- Group therapy
The specialists at TruHealing Centers provide individualized assessments and care plans to ensure that this special person in your life gets the level of treatment they need.
TruHealing Centers also provide mental health treatment for those in need of dual diagnosis care. Often mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety are part of an addiction. It is common for someone to use alcohol or a drug to self-medicate and feel better. The alcohol makes them less sad or not as anxious.
It is important to get treatment for both disorders, the mental health condition, and substance abuse, at the same time. Otherwise, they might start using drugs or drinking again once they are through with treatment.
Discover How Al-Anon Can Help You
There is help available for family and friends of those with an addiction. TruHealing Centers provides family therapy programs to give you the support you need. Give us a call at [Direct] or use our contact form online to find out more.
