Welcome Newcomers

The Minnesota South Area (MNSA) supports Al-Anon members in the southern part of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities.

MN SOUTH AREA MEETINGS

Attend a meeting

Al-Anon Family Groups (AFG) is a community resource providing support to anyone affected by a relative or friend’s drinking.

Beginner Meetings

All Meetings

What is Al-Anon?

Alateen is a place just for teens affected by someone else’s drinking.

Al-Anon/Alateen is a global fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength, and hope to solve common problems.

You are not alone. There are over 24,000 Al-Anon and 2,300 Alateen groups meeting in 115 countries.

New to Al-Anon?

Al-Anon is a community resource providing support to anyone affected by a relative or friend’s alcoholism. No matter what our unique experience has been we share a common bond: we feel our lives have been affected by someone else’s alcoholism.

Help

Help is available through meetings, fellowship, and sponsorship
Welcoming and giving comfort to families of alcoholics
Practicing the Twelve Steps (link to Twelve Steps)
Giving understanding and encouragement to the alcoholic

Self-supporting

Al-Anon/Alateen is self-supporting through the voluntary contributions of members; there are no dues or fees for membership.

Al-Anon does not accept any outside funds, grants, or donations

Anonymous

Al-Anon/Alateen is self-supporting:

Through the voluntary contributions of members; there are no dues or fees for membership
Al-Anon does not accept any outside funds, grants, or donations

Al-Anon/Alateen groups do not:

Give advice
Indulge in gossip or criticism
Discuss members’ religious beliefs or lack of them
Endorse or oppose any cause, therapy, or treatment
Provide support for problems other than the impact of alcoholism on the family members

Growing up in a home where one or both parents are alcoholics can have life-altering effects on children, with long-lasting emotional and psychological scars.

Alateen has helped many others. Many other teenagers have gone through the same problems that we have, and no matter how difficult our situation is, we can build a better life for ourselves by remembering to reach out for recovery.

Alcoholism

Alcoholism affects the person who drinks and those who are close to the problem drinker.
Learning the facts about alcoholism can make it easier to accept it as a disease.
Another person’s addiction to alcohol is no reflection on us. Remember that we didn’t cause it, and cannot control or cure it.
We are not responsible for the alcoholic’s behavior.

What can I do?

It helps to talk things over with someone we trust.
Being patient with ourselves and our families is important. Alcoholism has affected us and our families for a long time, and it may take a long time to recover.
Try to improve, “One Day at a Time.”
Attend Alateen (link to Alateen meetings), Al-Anon (link to meetings), open A.A. Meetings, and download the Alateen Mobile App (https://al-anon.org/newcomers/teen-corner-alateen/alateen-electronic-meeting/)
Study the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.

How Alateen Helps

Alateen is a place where members come together to:

Share experiences, strength, and hope with each other to find effective ways to cope with problems
Discuss difficulties and encourage one another
Help each other understand the principles of the Al-Anon program through the use of the Twelve Steps and Alateen’s Twelve Traditions

Alateen is not:

A place for teenagers seeking help for drinking or drug problems or a therapy program
A place to complain about parents or anyone else
A social hangout

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is a mutual and confidential sharing between two Al‑Anon or Alateen members. A Sponsor is someone with whom members can discuss personal problems or questions; someone who willingly shares the experience, strength, and hope of the Al‑Anon/Alateen program.

Learn More about finding a sponsor