Introduction

Paths to Recovery—Al‑Anon’s Steps, Traditions, and Concepts is a study of our fellowship’s three Legacies. It is compiled from the experience, strength, and hope of hundreds of Al‑Anon members. This comprehensive volume will guide Al‑Anon members worldwide as they study our program’s three Legacies and put them to work in their lives.

Al‑Anon’s logo is a triangle with a circle inside. The three sides of the triangle symbolize our three Legacies: Recovery through acceptance of the Steps, Unity through acceptance of the Traditions, and Service through acceptance of the Concepts. All three sides are necessary for the triangle to remain a triangle, just as a three‑legged stool needs all three legs in order to stand. The circle within the triangle has been described by some Al‑Anon members as a circle of welcome that carries the Al‑Anon message of hope to the many families and friends who are living or have lived with the disease of alcoholism. In this simple symbol, we find represented the spiritual principles that unite us in our common bond: recovery from the effects of the family disease of alcoholism.

In the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), the spouses of alcoholics often found themselves waiting together in the kitchen of a school or church for their alcoholic partners to finish their meeting. As these family members talked to one another about their own difficulties, they realized they had been affected by living with an alcoholic and they, too, needed help. Out of the need to share their own experience, strength, and hope, family groups began to develop around the United States. In 1951 the name Al‑Anon Family Groups was selected by a poll of the groups. Soon the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions were adapted from A.A.’s and adopted; in 1970 the Twelve Concepts were approved, Al‑Anon’s triangle of recovery for families and friends of alcoholics.

Living with the effects of alcoholism can be devastating. However, through the use of the Steps, Traditions, and Concepts, countless people around the world have found a new way of life, whether the alcoholic is still drinking or not. Al‑Anon is a spiritual program based on the principles found in the three Legacies. Anyone who has been affected by another person’s drinking is welcome in the fellowship. People from a variety of religions as well as those of no religion can find help in Al‑Anon.

We have found that our recovery is based on recognition of a Power greater than ourselves and active application to our lives of the principles contained in the Steps, Traditions, and Concepts. Happily, many of us also discovered that not only do the Steps, Traditions, and Concepts help us to recover from the effects of living with another person’s alcoholism, but they also guide us to a new way of life filled with serenity and love.

As newcomers to Al‑Anon, many of us are over‑whelmed with the concept of the family disease. We learn early on about the Twelve Steps. We hear that “working” these Steps is our path to personal recovery. Through study of the Steps, we are told, we will learn new ways to handle our lives; we will discover that we are responsible for our own happiness and that we cannot control other people.

We may hear a little bit about the Traditions when we are new. One or all of these may be read in our group meetings; some groups hold monthly Tradition meetings. As we keep coming back and get a little more involved with service in our group, we will hear more about the principle of unity embodied in the Traditions as well as how they apply to our groups and to our personal lives.