Originally Posted by FallenAngelina

Are you sure that it was an official Al-Anon group? At every meeting, the steps are read aloud. Every meeting features a different lead-off speaker each week. Most meetings follow a topic schedule and discussing the steps is in the topic schedule. In every meeting, each participant is given time to share. All of this provides quite a bit of opportunity for variety. There isn't conversation as we normally engage in it, but individuals sharing what is on their mind that week. If you were going to a meeting in which there was a repetitive group conversation week after week, perhaps it was not an affiliated Al-Anon group.

And as honeypig said, it's often the case that you'll need to try a few different meetings before you find one (or a few) that feels right. A big part of what feels right, as Lexicat says, is that the participants focus on themselves and solutions, not on alcoholics and problems. This reminder is also part of every Al-Anon meeting at the beginning.