Adult children of alcoholics and dysfunctional families

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Adult Children of Alcoholics and from dysfunctional families ( English Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA)) is an international self-help organization for now grown-up children, from the effects of being raised in a alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional family recovered want. The terms ACA, ACoA and Adult Children Anonymous and Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families are used synonymously.

history

ACA was founded in New York in 1978. It started with a group of Alateens . Alateen is a 12 step community . It consisted of teenagers and children from alcoholic families. Most of the Alateens were over twenty years old. Several Alateens and Tony A., a recovering alcoholic and New York stockbroker, started a meeting with a specific purpose. It broke away from Al-Anon with its focus on impotence over alcohol and became the first ACA group. This new group, called Generations , focused on recovery from the effects of growing up in an alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional family.

Tony A. later became the primary founder of ACA and died in 2004 at the age of 77.

In 1979 Newsweek magazine published an article on Claudia Black, which resulted in a book called It Will Never Happen to Me! had written. The article marked the first nationwide announcement in the U.S. that familial alcoholism could cause lifelong patterns of dysfunctional behavior, even in those who did not drink alcohol. The concept of addict families and familial dysfunction has gained wider prominence through Black's book.

Many children of alcoholics develop similar traits and personality traits to their parents. Janet G. Woititz , an American psychologist best known for her books and lectures on adult children of alcoholics, discovered in her research that the characteristics these children have in common are common not only in alcoholic families, but also in families where it other compulsive behaviors such as gambling , substance abuse, or overeating. Children who have experienced parents with chronic illnesses, strict religious attitudes or other dysfunctional systems also often identify with these characteristics, according to Woititz.

Over the past 30 years, according to the website operator, ACA, as an international community with thousands of meetings around the world, has "developed into a recognized program that provides effective recovery tools for adult children of various origins".

Recovery at ACA

The so-called program of recovery of ACA is based on the twelve-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous and has been adapted to the needs of the new target group. The ACA Community brings together a diverse group of people, such as adult children of alcoholics, co-addicts and addicts verschiedenster kind, but also adult children from dysfunctional families.

The term adult child is used to describe adults who grew up in alcoholic or dysfunctional families and who have recognizable characteristics that reveal the physical, psychological and sometimes sexual abuse and the consequences of emotional neglect that were suffered in childhood. Parental alcohol or drug abuse is not a requirement for membership if the other conditions are met.

In addition to the meetings and the twelve-step program , the recovery program contains elements of trauma work, which should lead to a journey to the Inner Child or the True Self . In addition, the aim is to find a so-called higher power : “Our actual parent is a higher power that some of us call God.” A so-called serenity prayer implies that a belief in God is part of the program and is considered beneficial.

In addition, a comprehensive explanation of how the family dysfunction has influenced the children and is still affecting their adult life today supports the adult child in the emotional healing of childhood trauma . The ACA's 30 years of experience has shown that adult children who attend the meetings, work the Twelve Steps and find a Higher Power , may experience improvements on a physical, mental, and spiritual level.

In German-speaking countries

The German group is currently (2018) in the process of establishing a registered association under the name Adults Children of Alcoholics / Dysfunctional Families eV

An association with a similar goal is the EKS - Adults Children of Addict Parents and Educators Interest Group , which has been active since 1987 and a registered association since 2000.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History of ACA. In: Adult children of alcoholics. Retrieved November 16, 2018 .
  2. ^ A b Early History. Adult Children of Alcoholics and its Beginnings. Adult Children of Alcoholics, accessed November 16, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Claudia Black: 'It Will Never Happen to Me!' Children of Alcoholics: As Youngsters - Adolescents - Adults . Ballatine Books, New York 1987, ISBN 0-345-34594-0 , pp. 203 (English).
  4. ↑ Janet G. Woititz: Adult Children of Alcoholics. Expanded Edition. Health Communications, Deerfield Beach 1983, ISBN 978-1-55874-112-6 (English, google.nl [accessed November 16, 2018]).
  5. ^ History of ACA. In: Adult children of alcoholics. Retrieved November 16, 2018 .
  6. ↑ The solution. In: Adult children of alcoholics. Retrieved November 16, 2018 .
  7. ↑ The Serenity Prayer of Aca. In: Adult children of alcoholics. Retrieved November 16, 2018 .