For the newcomer
We advise every newcomer to attend 5 meetings before deciding if it is something you want to do. There are in person meetings aswel as online meetings.
On the meetinglist you can find a summary of meetinngs and the contact information.
Every meeting is it’s own group, but follow the same guidelines and principals of Co-Dependents Anonymous.
Attending your first meeting – What to expect?
Firts you choose a meeting you want to attend. every meeting has a Greeter that will welcome you. If you plan to attend an in-person meeting you can call the contact person of that meeting to let them know you would like to participate, if you prefer.
The meetings will go by an structural order. Allthough there may be litlle differences between different meetings in order of elements.
In the meetinglist you can find aditional information per meeting. A ‘closed meeting’ is for codependents only and an ‘open’ meeting is also open to receive non-codependent visitors (friends or family).
In an open dialogue meeting there is room to react on each other, which will be guided by guidelines explained by the the chairman.
On https://coda.org/find-a-meeting/ you can find more English meetings to attend.
Structure of the meeting
Opening:
A chairman wil open the meeting and will ask if there are newcomers. You are asked to introduce yourself by sharing your firstname only.
Cards
Then in set order multiple cards with text are read, including: What is codependency? The Twelve Steps. The Twelve Traditions. Patterns and Characteristics.
Subject of the meeting, can differ per week:
- Literature; Steps or Traditios
- Topics; subjects to share about
- Speaker; a fellow CoDA member who will come share their experience with recovery
Sharinground
After the spoken subject follows a sharinground. Every participant will get the chance to share about what is going on, or in reaction to the spoken subject.
Whilst sharing we don’t react to each other. We only speak with ‘I’ and do not use ‘you’. This way we keep our meetings safe. Nothing of what is shared is unimportant or weird, erverybody is allow to be themselves no matter at which point in recovery they are. If you have questions or want feedback, you can adress that after the meeting.
The chairman will give notice at what time the sharinground ends.
Closing of the Meeting
After the sharinground are a few more cards read, including: The Twelve Promises and The Serenity Prayer.
We are reminded that Anonymity is one of our spirital principals our program is based on. Everything your hear and who you see at the meeting, stays in the meeting.
The meetings are financed by donations of participants, which we call the 7th tradition. We don’t accept donations of newcomers.