Words and Beyond: Members’ Experiences of the Supportive Communication and Helping Mechanisms of Al-Anon Groups

Abstract

Al-Anon members (n = 20) were interviewed to investigate the association between communication and the helping mechanisms of Al-Anon. The research material was thematically analyzed and resulted in six mechanisms of supportive communication (sense of belonging, seeing oneself in relation to others, experiencing self-efficacy, developing a new story, moving the attention to oneself, and finding building blocks of recovery) that operated at two levels of supportive communication: content and relationships. These results provide an outlook on the communication that produces helping mechanisms in mutual-support groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Al-Anon
• supportive communication
• mutual-support group
• alcoholics' friends and family