Teen Anon Group Leaders

TA OPENING

My name is_______________________.

Welcome to TEEN-ANON, the first national recovery group just for teens, based on the 12-steps of NA and AA.

Though we're less than a year old, we draw from all the experience, strength and hope from all those millions of young people and adults before us who have gotten beyond the dead-end of alcoholism and drug addiction and turned their lives around....rediscovering all the good things we have inside ourselves when we stay sober, deal with our feelings respect and help each other to recover and grow.

We discover or re-discover the best part of ourselves and each other by practicing the 12-steps of recovery, little by little, one day at a time.

We learn to turn fear into hope, despair into joy,anxiety into patience.

We see solutions instead of just focusing on problems.

In the fellowship of TEEN-ANON, we find that we don't have to go it alone and as we share what we have been through and where we want to reach, we find that there are all kinds of new possibilities.

We take an honest look at ourselves instead of working so hard at getting over. We work on our weaknesses and build on our strengths, learning to love ourselves and each other.

And always, we find, by turning it over to our Higher Power, which many of us choose to call God, that being willing is feels so much better than being willful.

As we work these 12-steps, we find a new life and new opportunities, people who accept us for our real selves and gratitude just for having each new day.

This program promises you that, if you work it, as best you can, just for today, that tomorrow will take care of itself, we can let go of our past and actually look forward to the future.

This program teaches us not just how to stay clean and sober but to really like ourselves and be able to face life head-on, no longer having to face anything alone.

We suggest that you attend as many meetings a week as you can. Because TEEN-ANON is new, it is suggested that you also go to AA or NA meetings. You will meet a great variety of people, hear many different stories, but as you do, while you'll meet people who seem different, we are all the same in one respect---learning all over again--- or the first time, to live, feel, enjoy, accept and hope without the chains of alcohol or other drugs.

....and that we have much to give to and share with each other. Let's begin with the Serenity Prayer....

(Serenity Prayer)

Here are the 12-steps we recover and live by......

(One person reads the 12-steps or they are passed around, taking turns)

There is no cross-talk. We learn to listen and to accept each other for themselves and not judge. In each person here, you can find some part of you to idenify with.

Are there any newcomers for whom this is their first meeting?

(Ask them to introduce themselves)

Respond with 'Welcome.

(Go around the room with each person introducing themselves by their first name)

(If you want to have someone read a page from the Meditation Book you have, do so here or do a reading about one of the steps and ask people to share what it means to them)

We open the meeting now to sharing--please, if possible, keep your sharing to 5-6 minutes so everyone can get a turn.

(Sharing starts)

7th. TRADITION:

(6-10 minutes before the end of the meeting, start passing around a cup and say this).....This is our 7th. Tradition. We have no dues or fees. If you can contribute $1 to help pay our rent or for our voicemail and the literature we have, it helps.

(Resume sharing.....ask for any newcomings to share) close

Let's applaud our fellow TEEN-ANONs for being here and sharing with us today.....(Pause)

We ask you to take whatever you want from what you've heard today and leave the rest.

Work the steps in everything you do this week. Practice patience and acceptance. Surrender to your Higher Power. Don't gossip. Leave whatever you hear in this room at the door.

Stick around for awhile after the meeting and talk with each other. Call someone on the phone list if you need to.

Asking for help and helping others is one of the best things we can do and it takes practice.

Attend other meetings.

Spend time this week being gentle with yourself, taking time just to live each day this week.

Remember---Easy Does It.

Be good to yourself. Make your program the most important thing in your life.

Let the program grow in you, one day at a time.

Let's all close the meeting, together, with this affirmation:

(choose an affirmation for the day)

(Hold hands in a circle and all say....)

Remember, Keep Coming Back....It Works If You Work It and You're Worth It!

TEEN-ANON Groups

Teen-Anon, 1550 N.E. 137, Portland, OR 97230. (please EMAIL us FIRST)

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TEEN-ANON is affiliated with Streetcats Foundation for Youth and National Childrens Coalition