Alateen, for children affected by someone else’s drinking.

Key Facts:

One in 4 Children are affected by someone's drinking. 

The consequent breakdown of the family leads to very destructive ‘acting out’ behaviour, particularly in teenagers, and this is where Alateen, for children whose lives have been affected by an alcoholic, proves so effective.

Helen Gillies

[email protected]

m: 0414337682

Al-Anon Family Groups is an Australia - Wide organisation supporting families and friends of problem drinkers.  Al-Anon has been operating in Australia for over 70 years and is a World -Wide resource for the wider community. 

Alateen is a peer support group for teens who are struggling with the effects of someone else’s problem drinking. Young people come together to discuss their difficulties and learn effective ways to cope with their problems.  One of the Alateen program’s basic principles is that of anonymity. Meetings are confidential, and members do not disclose whom they see or what they hear at meetings to anyone.

Members conduct their own meetings with the guidance of two adult Al-Anon members (certified by their local Area including having a Working with Children Check) to serve as Sponsors. The Sponsors are an active part of the Group, guiding and sharing knowledge of the recovery program. By sharing common experiences and applying the Al-Anon principles, young people can bring positive changes to their individual situations, whether or not the alcoholic admits the existence of a drinking problem or seeks help.

The breakdown of the family as a result of someone's drinking leads to very destructive ‘acting out’ behaviour, particularly in teenagers, and this is where Alateen proves so effective.

It is normal in the alcoholic family for almost every interaction to be destructive.  No matter what is tried, things go from bad to worse.  There may be hatred, rage and a desire for revenge – or apathy.  There can be tension and depression, thoughts of homicide, thoughts of suicide.  And above all, FEAR.  Living in such an atmosphere is not healthy, but how to avoid it?  Stress and negativity can lead to physical illness and an inability to function normally in society.  All this comes at a huge cost to our social system.  Having had expectations of happy domesticity, families often process the violence as a private, family matter.  This is a major element in what Barrett and McIntosh (1982) refer to as the “anti-social family”.

Alateen members learn:

• compulsive drinking is a disease

• they can detach themselves emotionally from the drinker's problems while continuing to love the person

• they are not the cause of anyone else's drinking or behaviour

• they cannot change or control anyone but themselves

• they have the resources with which to develop their own potential, no matter what happens at home

• they can build satisfying and rewarding life experiences for themselves

Website: www.al-anon.org.au/alateen

Contact: [email protected]

The worldwide fellowship of Al-Anon Family Groups including Alateen for our younger members, offers help, hope, and recovery to those whose lives have been affected by someone else’s problem with alcohol.

The benefits of learning more about alcoholism and the effects it has on not only the drinker but their family, friends and colleagues, are many.  Attending open meetings  where each speaker reveals their own experience of how alcoholism has impacted their life, will provide insight and understanding of this family disease.

We welcome you, and those professionals who regularly come into contact with clients, who have lived with, or possibly still live with, a problem drinker, to contact us for more information.

Al-Anon Family Groups (Australia) Pty Ltd

GPO Box 1002 Melbourne 3001

Telephone 96202166 Help line 1300252666

         E-mail: office@al-anon.org.au    Website:www.al-anon.org.au      

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