Glossary and Acronyms

• AA Alcoholics Anonymous
  
• AAISC Al-Anon/Alateen Information Service Center. The Al-Anon/Alateen Information Service Center is a local service center established by groups located close enough to one another for easy access and communication. It exists to aid the groups it serves in the common purpose of carrying the Al-Anon/Alateen message to the families and friends of alcoholics. The AAISC for Idaho is located in Boise. It is also referred to as the Literature Center. The Board of Trustees oversees the AAISC.
  
• AFG Al-Anon Family Group
• Al-Anon Al-Anon membership consists of people who affected by someone else's drinking. We don't have to know if someone is an alcoholic; we can apply the program if we know it or not. Members share their experience, strength, and hope to help themselves and other relatives and friends of alcoholics. We work the Twelve Steps borrowed from Alcoholics Anonymous.
  
• Alateen Alateen membership consists of young Al-Anon members. Members share their experience, strength, and hope to help themselves and other teenagers. The sharing and working of the program helps members understand how they are affected by someone else's drinking.
• AMIAS AMIAS is an acronym for Al-Anon Member Involved in Alateen Service. An Al-Anon Member Involved in Alateen Service is a person who has direct care and responsibility for Alateens while being of service to Alateen. This would include, but not be limited to Alateen sponsors, chaperones, instant sponsors, and drivers.
• Anonymity There are three parts to Al-Anon anonymity: anonymity as it applies outside Al-Anon, anonymity within Al-Anon; and anonymity as it pertains to us personally.
  
• Anonymity Outside Al-Anon - The motto "What you see here, what you hear here, whom you see here, stays here" sums up anonymity outside Al-Anon. We guard the anonymity of others in Al-Anon, Alateen, and AA by not revealing whom we see or what we hear in meetings. This provides comfort for new members that their identify will not be revealed upon joining Al-Anon. Al-Anon is protected from members who may seek public recognition by Tradition Eleven. Members are cautioned to use only their first name or a pseudonym when speaking or writing as a member of Al-Anon. Faces of Al-Anon or Alateen members should not be recognizable in photographs, TV appearances, or Internet pictures used in association with Al- Anon.
• Anonymity Within Al-Anon - Individual members may use their full name whenever they wish within Al-Anon. Members can decide for themselves the degree of anonymity they want within Al-Anon.
• Anonymity Personally - Each member has equal rights as other members regardless of social, educational, or financial position. Anonymity of our personal lives ensures equal sharing.
• Area Area is a shortened name for the Area World Service Committee (AWSC). This committee consists of the area officers, district representatives, coordinators, and liaison members such as the delegate. This committee meets four times a year: at the two assemblies and twice between assemblies. They discuss area and district matters, plan the assembly agenda, and make recommendations to the assembly. All committee members may vote at the area meetings.
• Assembly An assembly is a meeting for the group representatives (GRs) to conduct Al-Anon business. On election years, the GRs elect a delegate, an alternate delegate, and assembly officers. They also meet to receive and discuss WSO and area reports.
• AWSC Area World Service Committee. See Area.
  

• Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees is the custodian and guarantor of good management of the Al-Anon/Alateen Information Service Center (AAISC). The Board determines policy and manages the business affairs of the AAISC.
  

• CAL Conference Approved Literature
  
• Concepts The Twelve Concepts is Al-Anon's third legacy and relates to service. The concepts guide us as we do Al-Anon service work such as sponsoring a newcomer, telling our story at a meeting, distributing literature, supporting groups financially, being a group, district, area, or WSO officer, and helping friend or families of alcoholics.
• CPC Cooperating with the Professional Community
  

• Declaration The Al-Anon declaration: "Let it begin with me. When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, let the hand of Al-Anon and Alateen always be there, and let it begin with me.
  
• Delegate A delegate is a liaison between area and WSO. The delegate and alternate delegate are voted into the position by GRs at an assembly.
• Denial Denial is a disbelief in the existence or reality in a thing. In Al-Anon denial we hide how we feel, what we experience, and what we know. Even when good sense tells us something is wrong we want to believe the problem will go away or does not exist.
• Detachment Detachment allows us to separate ourselves from the detrimental affects of another person's drinking. It is not disinterest of another person but rather a separation from their behavior. When we don't change our agenda based on someone else's availability, we have practiced detachment.
• District Areas are divided into districts by WSO with the approval of the assembly. Idaho is divided into 7 districts:
  
• District 1 is northern Idaho including Bonners Ferry, Clark Fork, Coeur d'Alene, Hayden Lake, Kellogg, Osburn, Post Falls, Sandpoint, and St. Maries.District 2 is central northern Idaho including Cottonwood, Craigmont, Grangeville, Kamiah, Kendrick, Lenore, Lewiston, Moscow, Orofino, Riggins, and Weippe.District 3 is midwestern Idaho including Boise, Eagle, Emmett, Garden Valley, Kuna, McCall, Meridian, and Mountain Home.District 4 is central Idaho including Buhl, Burley, Filer, Gooding, Jerome, Ketchum, Rupert, Shoshone, Sun Valley, and Twin Falls.District 5 is southeastern Idaho including Afton (Wyoming), American Falls, Chubbuck, Malad, Pocatello, Preston, and Soda Springs.District 6 is mideastern Idaho including Arco, Blackfoot, Challis, Driggs, Dubois, Idaho Falls, Mackey, Rigby, Salmon, St. Anthony, and Tetonia.District 7 is western Idaho including Caldwell, Homedale, Middleton, Midvale, Nampa, Nyssa, Ontario (Oregon), Payette, and Weiser.
• District Meeting A district meeting is meeting of the GRs and is held within the boundaries of a district. The meeting is an opportunity to discuss district matters with other GRs, listen to reports, and to elect a district representative.
• District Representative A District Representative (DR) is elected by the GRs in a district. The DR is a liaison between the area and the district. The DR passes along information from the delegate and area to the district. The DR also passes along information from the district GRs to the area.
• DR District Representative
  

• Forum The Forum is a monthly publication of Al-Anon Family Groups. Al-Anon and Alateen members share their experience, strength, and hope with all members of Al-Anon. This magazine also contains information from WSO.
  

• GR Group Representative
  
• Group Representative A Group Representative (GR) is an Al-Anon member who represents an Al-Anon or Alateen group at district and assembly meetings. The GR is elected to a three-year term and is a liaison between the group and area.

• Inside Al-Anon Inside Al-Anon is a bi-monthly newsletter that keeps groups attuned to worldwide Al-Anon activities and the latest material available from WSO. A free copy is sent to each registered group.
  
• Insanity Insanity defined in Al-Anon is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

• Legacy A legacy is anything that is passed down from a predecessor. The three Al-Anon legacies are the steps, traditions, and concepts.
  
• Literature Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. publishes Conference Approved Literature for our use.

• Obsession Obsession is the domination of our thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, or desire. Obsession is when our thinking is directed at what another person is doing or not doing. We revisit conversations or situations in the past and our mind strives to improve on the past. We go into the future and think again and again about scenarios and how they might play out. Obsession keeps us from experiencing the present by snatching our thoughts into the past or future.
  

• PI Public Information

• Resentment A resentment is a feeling of displeasure or indignation at someone else for a perceived injury or insult. Resentments rob us from today's pleasures when we obsess about the other person and the injury done to us. When we hang on to resentments we are hurting ourselves. "A resentment is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die."
  
• RSS RSS is an acronym for Regional Service Seminar.
  

• Slogans Slogans are short hand reminders to help us remember the Al-Anon program. This allows us to apply the program to our lives on a daily basis.
  
• Sponsorship Sponsorship is a means for two Al-Anon or Alateen members to share confidentially. A sponsor guides the sponsee through steps and
  
• utually shares the principles of the program.
• Steps The Twelve Steps is Al-Anon's first legacy and relates to recovery. They are twelve principles for personal recovery adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous.
  

• TEAM TEAM is an acronym for Together Empowering Al-Anon Members. For more information.
  
• Traditions The Twelve Traditions is Al-Anon's second legacy and relates to unity. They are used as guidelines for the functioning of the Al-Anon groups and help groups solve their problems.
• Twelve Concepts See Concepts
• Twelve Steps See Steps
• Twelve Traditions See Traditions
  
  

• World Service Office The World Service Office (WSO) is the international Al-Anon clearinghouse. WSO consists of paid employees to publish and distribute conference approved literature and to help others find this fellowship.
  
• WSC World Service Conference
• WSO World Service Office