An Introduction to ACA

• Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA) is a Twelve Step, Twelve Tradition program of people who grew up in alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional homes
• The ACA program was founded on the belief that family dysfunction is a disease that infected us as children and affects us as adults
• Our membership also includes adults from homes where alcohol or drugs were not present; however, abuse, neglect or unhealthy behavior was
• We meet to share our experience and recovery in an atmosphere of mutual respect. There are no dues or fees for membership; the only requirement is a desire to recover
• We discover how alcoholism and other family dysfunction affected us in the past and how it influences us in the present. We begin to see the unhealthy elements of our childhood
• By practicing the Twelve Steps, focusing on the ACA Solution, and accepting a loving Higher Power of our own understanding, we find freedom

(Adapted from National Capital Area Intergroup)