Families Anonymous (FA) is a self-help group consisting of families of drug or alcohol abusers and of those with other kinds of behavioral problems as well. Families Anonymous was founded in 1971 by a group of Los Angeles families and is based on the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The focus of the program is on the family, not the user, and allows the family to become functional in dealing with legal problems. Members began to put their lives together and to find a sense of serenity.

EDUCATORS : Your ability to help children in trouble with drugs and alcohol and other kinds of behavioral problems will be facilitated when the parents are able to find support.
FA will provide this help.

HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS, HOSPITALS and TREATMENT CENTERS : Truly successful treatment can occur only when the chemically dependent person is able to arrest this illness and the family members find help and support for themselves. The best treatment program or faculty cannot provide this support on a continuing basis. FA helps fill this need and is a vital link between recovery and the family.

GOVERNMENT, LEGAL, and LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS : One of the biggest problems you face with teen drug and alcohol abuse is with the parents. The grief and denial parents experience when faced with behavioral problems associated with substance abuse are sometimes manifested by hostility and disrespect for the legal system. Referring families to FA will help provide a means to relieve the anxieties growing out of these problems. The support and release of guilt and other negative emotional feelings allows parents to become functional in dealing with legal problems.

LIBRARIANS : Parents of those harmfully involved with substance abuse often wrestle privately with their guilt, anger, frustration and other negative emotions. Displaying the Families Anonymous Literature may be the silent outreach that allows parents to find the help they need for themselves and ultimately for their loved ones.

CLERGY : When counseling parents or friends of alcohol or other drug abusers, you may often encounter questions of doubt, self-worth, and a challenging of religious beliefs. You may be frustrated in attempting to counsel family members so torn. FA is a spiritual program open to all, regardless of religious beliefs. It offers you an opportunity to present parents and/or other affected family members with an effective self-help support system. Recovery as a result of participation in FA resolves the questions of doubt and self-worth and often strengthens religious conviction.

EMPLOYERS : Parents hurting from the pain of having a child or loved one harmfully involved with drugs or alcohol often display this suffering through changes in behavior at the work place. Productivity suffers; attendance and attitude become a problem. FA will provide the support needed to allow parents to effectively manage the problem by strengthening themselves with positive attitudes. The referral to Families Anonymous may be the single most effective action you can take on a one-on-one basis to improve profit by fully developing human potential.

We are sending you this letter to advise you that we have started a Families Anonymous Group here in our community. Our meetings are held on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 – 8:00 P.M. located at St Lukes United Church Facility, 350 Indian Rd S (corners of Indian Rd S & Wellington St.).