SoaringSpirits

What do they mark? The time since you first went to Al Anon, or the time since you've been consistently going? Or?

Every time they hand out those chips, I wonder. Can someone enlighten me?

Pelican

hmm, I'm not familiar with Alanon Chips.

I clicked onto your post and thought "please pass the Pringles" :-)

m1k3

That's a new one for me as well.

Trilogy

Not familiar with this, either. I have been to about 10 meetings in the maybe 20 years since it became apparent to me I am married to an alcoholic. I have to admit, I have not been very comfortable in the various meetings I have attended- I am a very private person and do not share freely- just listened. I have gotten more support from this forum in the last 2 months since my 29yr marriage has bottomed out than I have ever gotten from Alanon. I guess everyone's different. If I had heard of "chips", I certainly wouldn't put much worth in it, though. Reminds me of when my husband bought me diamond earrings for our 26th wedding anniversary, totally forgetting we purchased a pair for me 6 years previously in Amsterdam for our 20th Anniversary. What am I going to do with 2 pairs of diamond earrings? They're just "things" , for Christ's sake!

wellnowwhat

Never heard of Alanon chips.

(we usually bring the desserts! lol)

Learn2Live

I've only seen chips handed out at one Al-Anon meeting. It's an ACOA group. Otherwise, never seen it at any other. Not sure what they're counting.

notsobar

It think it marks the amount of time since your last drink of alcohol.

Oops I didn't realize there was a difference between AA and Al-Anon.

In that case I dunno?

soberbrooke

I got a chip or medallion the first meeting of Al-anon that I went to. It has a butterfly on one side and on the other side it is the Serenity Prayer.

I am going to drill a hole in it and put it on my key chain right next to all of my AA medallions.
And you know........ I am not sure what it means!! I might think it means the first time I went to al-anon and started to wake up from the illusion that I have been living under for the past 15 years?? Ever since going to that meeting, I have been working on my exbf like never before. It has truly been another awakening, the first one being when I stopped drinking. One of the ways I have been working him is to just not do or say anything!! It has freed up so much more in my life!!!
All I can say is YAY for al-anon, YAY for SR, and YAY to the fact that i am starting to finally come around and get these 2 wonderful programs!!!

Justfor1

Can a Alanon member relapse and have the "chip" taken away? I know thats what happens in some AA groups. How exactly, do Alanon member work the steps?

LifeRecovery

It is about the time you choose to be "sober" from the chaos and craziness of addiction (I think). The meetings I go to in my town don't have them, but just over the boarder does the last meeting of the month....and a part of me wants to go to have a token of my hard work.

I always assumed it would be from the start of Al-anon. I don't want to admit how many years I have been working on this stuff w/out Al-Anon to still be this nuts.

DesertEyes

"Chips" are used extensively in the "chemical" programs. i.e.: AA, NA, OA, etc. Any program that helps people overcome a medical / chemical disorder uses the chips to mark the first day a person stopped using their "drug of choice". Chips are then given for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 1 year, 2 years, etc. of continuous abstinence.

Note that is _continuous_, not _contiguous_.

The non-chemical programs will sometimes use "chips" as a form of welcoming peeps into their new life. ACoA, SLA, DA, etc. don't involve chemicals, so the concept of "abstinence" is rather slippery and nebulous in those fellowships.

One of the branches of ACoA is an out-growth of East Coast AA and they have a very strong AA "flavor". They actually have chips for every year and discuss "emotional sobriety". They're a little odd in that they only consider ACoA as having been around for 35 years, instead of counting all the way to 1969 like the other branches of ACoA. That is when Margaret Cork published the first book identifying children of alcoholics as being affected by the disease. That book started people adapting the 12 steps to ACoA issues and was the original guide those first meetings used.

The second branch of ACoA is an out-growth of West coast al-anon. Their "flavor" is heavy on the co-dependent side. No chips at all, maybe a butterfly chip to represent the concept of the end of the world for the caterpillar is the beginning of the world for the butterfly.

The third branch of ACoA is rather independent and don't want anything to do with al-anon or AA. They believe each member of a family needs to work their own program, not remain enmeshed with the dysfunctional parents by using their program. They welcome you with a teddy bear, symbolizing the start of a new childhood that _you_ get to create for yourself.

Ultimately, like with all other 12 step programs, the quality of a given meeting depends on the members, and not so much on their origins.

The original "chip" was a "Sacred Heart Medallion" hand made by the nuns of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. They would cut out a picture from a pamphlet, crochet a little border around it, and use it as a symbol of devotion. When an alcoholic was discharged from the world's only addiciton treatment center back in the 1930's the worlds first alcoholism nurse; Sister Mary Ignatia, would make one of these and hand it to the newly sober person. There were no 12 steps or "Big Book" back then, just a handful of religious people who cared for the recovering drunks that eventually formed AA

http://www.barefootsworld.net/graphics/shbadge.jpg

Sister Ignatia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I've seen one of the original medallions, and they are _tiny_ yet beautiful. The tradition is now carried on with metal coins with various inscriptions and designs. When an alkie _earns_ a chip they pass it around the room and all those who wish to can "place" a prayer or good thought on the chip. Should the alkie wish to drink again he/she has to drop the chip in the drink and wait for the chip to dissolve before taking the drink.

Naturally, alkies being the devious folks we are, the chips are made of alluminum or other non-rusting metal

Mike
Moderator, SR

baileyboop

Not all, but Al Anon groups give chips, just as they do in AA. I have had two home groups since becoming a grateful member of Al Anon. One of those groups gave out chips, the other one didn't. It is up to each group to decide if they want to have birthdays and chips for recovery or not. As for the step work, I have worked the steps the way I figure AA does. I work the steps with my Sponsor. I have also been inolved in a group step study. I will admit I share more freely with my sponsor than I do in a group setting, especially my 4th step work, which if done honestly, takes a lot of time and involves some very personal details. In the group setting step work, we used the Paths to Recovery, Al Anon's steps, traditions and Concepts. In this book is a series of questions you answer on each step, and we did these questions in the group. With my sponsor, it was way more intensive than that.

SoaringSpirits

Thanks for all the great explanations, especially the very interesting historical background from DesertEyes!

At the Al Anon meeting I attend, they hand out chips at the end of each month. They mark 30 days on up to XX years. My kids who are in Alateen also get chips in a similar fashion.

I don't have any chips. I figure that getting my head out of my A** and dumping my drunk husband is the best chip imaginable.

Learn2Live

I'm still working on this step SoaringSpirits.

Learn2Live

I wonder if these are the folks who have "ACA" (no "o") on their material. Because I've seen both, "ACA" and "ACoA." The ACA meeting (with chips) was a little weird to me.

kudzujean

We don't do Al Anon chips in my neck of the woods.

DesertEyes

Way back in the early 70's the program was called "FC", as in "Forgotten Children" after the book by Margaret Cork. When Claudia Black cracked the field wide open with her article in Newsweek in 1979 the program changed it's name to "COA", for "Children of Alcoholics". Somewhere in the late 80's they wanted to make it more inclusive so they changed it to "ACA", for "Adult Children of Alcoholics". Then in the 90's they wanted to change it to "ACTF", for "Adult Children of Toxic Families".... but peeps were sick of name changes so that never took hold.

The National Association for Children of Alcoholics, which is a clearing house for professionals, still uses "COA".

National Association for Children of Alcoholics

The "ACoA" organization is based out of the East Coast, they're the ones that did most of the work for publishing the "Red Book". You can read their story at the front of the book.

ACA Fellowship Text

Those folks are mostly AA types who found they had ACA issues as well. Note that even though they are East Coast AA types the _office_ is located in Torrance, California.

Welcome to Adult Children of Alcoholics - World Service Organization, Inc.

The West coast peeps don't use the "o" in the "ACoA" name. They just say "ACA". One way to differentiate the East coasties from the West coasties is by that little "o" in the name of their meetings.

It's weird to anybody who comes from al-anon. But it feels "normal" to peeps who originate in AA.

The issue is that ACA, as far as 12 step fellowships are concerned, is both very new and very broad in it's appeal. Folks from all kinds of other 12 step fellowships find that they _also_ qualify for ACA, which results in a virtual buffet of people showing up at a meet. At mine we have a contingent from Workaholics Anonymous, another bunch from Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, couple guys from Gamblers Anonymous, a cluster of alanoids, another group from Narcotics Anonymous, 3 or 4 peeps from AA, a couple from ISA, several from OA and a handful of peeps that are "pure" ACA with no other afiliation.

With that kind of "alphabet soup" in an organization you're going to get a very different "flavor" from one meeting to another. Over the last 40 years that mix has been both an asset and a hindrance. It's difficult for peeps to feel "at home" if they have experience with a previous program, but it also provides a deep and rich background of experience and wisdom.

Mike