Area 5 Colorado

MEETINGS

Meetings

For the newcomer

Each meeting has its own style, so it is suggested that you try 6 meetings before deciding if Al-Anon is right for you.  Autonomy allows the meeting to be run as its members choose, within guidelines designed to promote Al-Anon unity.  The only requirement for membership is that your life has been affected by someone’s drinking.

What are Al-Anon meetings like?

In a typical AL-ANON meeting, participants share and listen to the experiences, strengths and hopes of one another on a confidential and anonymous basis. Most AL-ANON meetings focus at first on a topic delivered by a lead-off speaker (the chair of this meeting), followed by participants speaking about how that topic relates to their own lives or about other experiences in their lives. Participants are not required to speak, but when they do, they are encouraged to share their own experience, strength and hope, focusing on their own life without gossip or criticism of one another.

Are all Al-Anon meetings the same?

Each AL-ANON meeting is independent, and each has its own character and focus. Some meetings focus on a subgroup of participants (see below).

When our World Service Office lists a group, at their request, there is an informal agreement that the group will abide by Al-Anon Traditions and keep its doors open to any Al-Anon member. Listing in the directory does not constitute approval of any group’s manner of practicing the Al-Anon program. If the group you attend is not right for you, please try another.

There is help available in Al-Anon.

Participants

Families, Friends, and Observers Welcome

Meetings where professionals and the general public are encouraged to obtain information about AL-ANON and the effect of drinking problems on other people.

Families and Friends Only

Meetings where anyone who feels they have been affected by someone else’s drinking is welcome.

Adult Children Meetings

Meetings where the discussion May focus on adults whose lives have been affected by the drinking of a parent or other caretaker.

Beginners Meetings

Meetings designed especially with newcomers to AL-ANON in mind.  Beginners Meetings are sometimes separate meetings but are often held as an extension to a regular AL-ANON meeting. Sometimes beginners also attend Open Meetings to obtain public information.

LGBTQIA+

Meetings are especially supportive and inclusive of diverse participants whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking..

Men

Meetings attended primarily by men whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking.

Women

Meetings attended primarily by women whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking.

Parents

Meetings attended primarily by parents whose lives have been affected by the drinking of their children.

Young Adults

Meetings attended primarily by younger members whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking.

People of Color

Meetings attended primarily people of color whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking.

Revised Jan 2026