What are the qualities and traits of an ACoA?
What are the qualities and traits of an ACoA?
The most cited information for qualities and traits comes directly from ACA. The ACoA Laundry List was compiled by one of the founding members of ACA, Tony A in 1978. It’s a set of personality traits that ACoAs commonly share from growing up in dysfunctional, chaotic, and often unsafe homes.
The Laundry List – 14 Traits of an Adult Child of an Alcoholic +
When ACoAs first read the Laundry List and can identify with the traits, it often brings some relief, pain, fear, and/or confusion.
In many ways, since an alcoholic family system is often secretive and closed, the knowledge of the effects of growing up in the chaos is often denied and unknown. With this new knowledge, ACoAs can begin to uncover how they bring these traits into their lives. With gentleness and compassion, ACoAs begin the journey of understanding the particular impact their alcoholic system had on them, emotionally and in their beliefs about themselves and relationships.
Moreover, it is understood that ACoAs had to develop these traits in order to survive an unsurvivable home. The pain from continuing to use the same childhood survival methods in adulthood, however, is exactly what causes suffering for the ACoA. The traits can then be psychologically integrated with work overtime through therapy and recovery.
