When I first came into the Al-Anon program, I had spent so much time and energy into isolating, stuffing my feelings and trying to fix and control people, places and things, that I had no idea who I was, what I liked or disliked or even what I what felt. When they...
“Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.” -Step 5 from the Al-Anon Family Groups One of the unspoken rules that children growing up in families impacted by alcohol and drug addiction learn is “Don’t Talk.” (Claudia...
“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” -Step 4 from the Al-Anon Family Groups When I tell my family recovery story, which I do regularly, I try to talk about parts of my life that illustrate the impact the disease of alcoholism has had in my...
“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. -Step 2 from the Al-Anon Family Groups I didn’t need to be restored to sanity. I was the sane person in our household. I was the sober one. I was making all the decisions. I was taking...
“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.” -Step 1 from the Al-Anon Family Groups When I was new to family recovery, I wasn’t certain how Step 1 would apply to me. I knew that my life was unmanageable (I was the kind of...
Slamming doors. Broken dishes. Arguments that the neighbors could hear clearly. Tears. Unkind words. And, conversely the resonant sound of hostile silence. The disease of alcoholism had wedged itself into the middle of our marriage. When the members of family recovery...
