Nar-Anon Midwest Region

What is Nar-Anon?

We welcome you to the Nar-Anon Family Groups and hope you will find comfort and support in our meeting. We believe that by sharing our experience, strength, and hope, we can learn from each other how to deal with the pain and heartbreak that come with loving an addict.

When you come into the family group, you are no longer alone but among true friends who understand your problem as few others could. We will respect your confidence and anonymity, as we know you will respect ours. We hope to give you the assurance that no situation is too difficult and no unhappiness is too great to be overcome.

We learn that Addiction is a family disease and we need recovery too.

Finding a Meeting

You may be here because you are desperately seeking help for your addicted loved one. Maybe a friend, relative, or counselor suggested you attend Nar-Anon. No matter how you found Nar-Anon, it may be helpful to know what a twelve step meeting is and how it is conducted. Nar-Anon meetings follow an approved format which usually includes the reading of our Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, and selected excerpts from our literature. The format may have the meeting leader suggest a time for questions after the meeting. Some new attendees find it helpful to arrive early or stay late to ask questions.

To find an in-person meeting in your area or a virtual meeting online, please visit our meetings page.

Sponsorship

What is a Sponsor? A sponsor is a member of Nar-Anon with whom you can share intimate thoughts and feelings about how you have been affected by a loved one’s drug addiction. A sponsor will guide you through the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions so you can apply them to your daily life. A sponsor can guide you by making suggestions and by sharing their experiences. You do not have an obligation to follow a sponsor’s suggestion, but there is an old saying, “If you want what I have, do what I do.”

The Twelve Steps

The Twelve Steps provide a catalyst for change that can be profound and lasting. Working these steps can transform the lives of individuals and families.

Having made a commitment to change by working the Twelve Steps of Nar-Anon, we recognize that recovery is a process and we will use these steps again and again. Like the slogan, progress not perfection, each time we work a step, we gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and the progress we have made. We can compare the Twelve Steps to a flight of stairs. We use them many times until they become a way of life, leading us to peace, joy, and serenity.