In the latest Al‑Anon member interview, Tricia, an anonymous Al‑Anon member, shares that although she was reluctant to go to her first Al‑Anon meeting, she relented because she had tried everything else and didn’t know what else she could do.

Watch her interview to find out more.

Do you love an alcoholic? Maybe Al‑Anon can help. Al‑Anon is a twelve‑step recovery program for anyone concerned about or affected by someone with a drinking problem.

Disclaimer:

This interview was recorded at the 2018 Al‑Anon International Convention in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Members were asked to share about various aspects of the Al‑Anon program and their personal experience.

Members’ anonymity is protected so that they can share openly and honestly about their experience with a loved one’s drinking and with the Al‑Anon program.

The opinions expressed in this video were strictly those of the person who gave them.

INTERVIEWER: Hi, Tricia. Could you share with us why you came to Al‑Anon?

TRICIA: Yes, I came to Al‑Anon because I had tried everything else. I came to my first Al‑Anon meeting, really because of an extreme situation at home. And I realized that I needed some help, but I reached out to the 1‑800 line. I did and the lady there tried to send me to a meeting close to my home, and I told her I couldn’t do that, of course, because well, I was afraid I’d see somebody I knew.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah.

TRICIA: So, I went all the way across town – 45 minutes. And when I got there, I purposely got there late because I really didn’t want to go. And I walked into the meeting, and I don’t know, they must have known I was new. And I sat down, and it took me a few minutes to start hearing even what they were saying.

And the first thing I heard was, “Since we have somebody that’s new here in our group, why don’t we talk about the three Cs?” And what I heard about the three Cs is why I came to Al‑Anon. Even though I didn’t know it at the time. The hope that I heard in that and the freedom from the guilt that I was carrying, that whatever I was doing, wasn’t working.

Everything I did didn’t work. And at that first meeting, I heard about the three Cs. And I just from then, I didn’t hear anything else that went on in the meeting, really. And when I heard that I didn’t cause it, it really gave me a lift from my shoulders where I had been carrying that burden of trying to do the next right thing in order to get my husband at the time to quit drinking and make our lives better.

And the control and the not causing it. I didn’t understand until much later. But curing it didn’t understand till much later. But the cause part really was a relief to me, and I left that day with a sense of hope that maybe I would be better.

INTERVIEWER: Great. Thank you.