history of Alanon by looking back to the foundation and activities leading to its establishment
Alanon is a program that offers family and relatives of recovering alcoholics cope with the changed alcoholics. Alanon Group has its history embedded to that of Alcoholics Anonymous. This organization defines alcoholism as a form of family illness that has to be dealt with by all family members. Through sharing strength, experience, hope, and weaknesses, the members of this group can overcome their shared problem. Alanon was established under the belief that a change in attitude towards alcoholism is the first step towards recovery. The group does not align with any political affiliation, religion, race, and institution. Through voluntary contributions, Alanon has been able to remain a sustainable and reliable source of motivation for many family members of alcoholics. Alanon follows the Twelve Steps that cover the whole stay and activities of the organization. The group is organized in one massive entity that is subdivided into smaller sections to enable the participants in the fellowship to share their experiences. This paper gives a history of this group by looking back to the foundation and activities leading to its establishment.
Alanon was founded in 1951 by two associates; Lois w. and Anne B. Formation of Alanon was encouraged by the activities of the Alcoholics Anonymous. When Lois’ husband, Bill. W was recovering from alcoholism. Lois thought that his recovery would bring more joy to their family. Initially, she felt that confusion, anger, frustration, and bitterness would be gone after her husband’s recovery. Contrary to her expectations, she found herself mad at the fact that her husband was recovered from the condition. When her husband had fully recovered from alcoholism, he formed the AA with some of his colleagues with the belief that their group would benefit other members of the society through the sharing experience (Beattie, 2016, 314). Lois recounts that when she learned that her husband was in the line of recovery, she experienced great anger and jealousy. First, she was angry at herself for not being part of the help that her husband needed during the alcoholic days. She hated herself for not helping Bill recover from alcoholism. Secondly, she was jealous of all those people who played a part in the recovery of her husband. Lois was sad because strangers helped her husband more than she had ever done all through their love-life.
In an attempt to help herself through this anger and jealousy, Lois came up with the idea of helping the wives of the men attending to the AA by sharing her experience with them. The AA meetings were conducted at her house; hence she saw this as an opportunity to recover from the effects of alcoholism. When sharing her ideas with the women, Lois discovered that all the women accompanying their husbands to this forum was depressed and angered by the recovery of their husbands. Initially, the discussions were held in the kitchen because it was all about sharing experiences. Soon the women who were waiting for their husbands in cars started coming into the house to share their experiences (Beattie, 2016, 314). Through these sharing experiences, Lois and Anne realized that the wives and other relatives were to victims of alcoholism. After this realization, the two concluded that women too need a group that can help them recover from the impacts of addiction on their lives. In 1951, Anne and Lois formed this group by borrowing its name from their husband’s “Alcoholics Anonymous.”