Al-Anon Family Groups, founded in 1951, is an international mutual aid organization for people who have been impacted by another person's alcoholism.

"[1] Alateen "is part of the Al-Anon fellowship designed for the younger relatives and friends of alcoholics through the teen years".

Al-Anon defines itself as an independent fellowship with the stated purpose of helping relatives and friends of alcoholics.

[3] Its "Preamble to the Twelve Steps" provides a general description: The Al-Anon Family Groups are a fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength, and hope in order to solve their common problems.

Al-Anon is not allied with any sect, denomination, political entity, organization, or institution; does not engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any cause.

We, too, were lonely and frustrated, but in Al-Anon we discover that no situation is really hopeless, and that it is possible for us to find contentment, and even happiness, whether the alcoholic is still drinking or not.

[11] Alateen, part of Al-Anon, began in California in 1957 when a teenager named Bob "joined with five other young people who had been affected by the alcoholism of a family member.

"[12] Although people commonly turn to Al-Anon for help in stopping another's drinking, the organization recognizes that the friends and families of alcoholics are often traumatized themselves and in need of emotional support and understanding.

According to Lois W.: After a while I began to wonder why I was not as happy as I ought to be, since the one thing I had been yearning for all my married life [Bill's sobriety] had come to pass.

[17][18] A 1999 clinical analysis of methods used by concerned significant others (CSOs) to encourage alcoholics to seek treatment indicated that Al-Anon participation was "mostly ineffective" towards this goal.

The psychologists found community reinforcement approach and family training (CRAFT) "significantly more" effective than Al-Anon participation in arresting alcoholism in others.

And one side finding was that "40 percent of respondents initially joined Al-Anon because a person with a drug problem was negatively affecting their lives".

Tradition Nine says: "Our groups, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

The 1994 film When a Man Loves a Woman "...confronts the realities of substance abuse as it affects all members of one family with an alcoholic at its center.

[30] In the Hulu show The Bear, the protagonist Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto attends Al-Anon in response to his brother's painkiller addiction.