General Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) Meeting Information

With 1,000’s of CODA meetings being held around the world every day, it’s easy for you to find local live meetings and online meetings with people from your local community in attendance. If you are in a treatment center, they will have meetings and may also provide transportation to and from meetings. Many meetings have childcare, to ensure mothers and fathers can attend meetings also.

Meetings for Co-Dependents Anonymous and are most often held in public places like churches, community centers, club houses and parks. During the COVID pandemic, many of your local CoDA meetings are still being held on the same day and time as before, but have transitioned to an online platform like Zoom. While CoDA groups do not affiliate themselves with any particular religion, they are spiritual in nature, with a goal of being a safe place for people with codependency problems to meet, share their experience, strength and hope with each other, and take the 12 steps of Co-Dependents Anonymous to rid yourself of your drug use, clean up any wreckage you may have caused and heal yourself. The 12 steps of Co-Dependents Anonymous are specifically designed to help suffering codependents rebuild their lives.

Types of Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) Meetings

As a general rule, there are four standard types of meetings, Open Share Meetings, Topic Share Meetings, Step or Tradition Meetings and Speaker Meetings. Information for each follows.

• Speaker Meeting: This type of meeting features a personal story of recovery shared by one individual. Speakers share their personal experience, strength, and hope in the program. The meeting may or may not include open sharing after the speaker, depending on the length of story shared.
• Open Share Meeting: This type of meeting often has no topic or individual speaker, giving members an opportunity to share their experience, strength, and hope on their recovery as they wish.
• Topic Share Meeting: This type of meeting opens with the facilitator or a member of the group suggesting a specific topic, i.e., the Steps, setting boundaries, sponsorship, etc. The facilitator will usually begin the sharing.
• Step or Tradition Study Meeting: In this style of meeting, the group uses our Conference Endorsed CoDA literature and/or the CoDA Book as a foundation for study, discussion, or sharing related to CoDA’s Steps and /or Traditions. For example: the group may elect to read a portion of this material out loud and then have an open sharing session.

People can attend as many Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) meetings as the want and are often encouraged to attend a number of meetings until they find a meeting or set of meetings they like and that have people attending who they can relate to. People are encouraged to find a CoDA home group which they attend regularly. This is usually a meeting you relate to, that has people who are benefiting from the meeting and Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) program. They generally take a commitment at their CoDA home group and hold themselves and others accountable for attending.

How is a Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) Meeting Conducted?

Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) membership is open to anyone who suffers from addiction, identifies as an addict, and/or has a desire to stop using. People do not have to do anything prior to attending an CoDA meeting; they can just show up. Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) meeting attendance is kept confidential, and individuals are welcome to attend as many different Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) meetings as they desire. Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) meetings are typically an hour, but there are also many longer meetings and some shorter in duration.

Typical Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) Meeting Format

Individual Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) groups may differ slightly in the way they run Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) meetings, but in general, a typical format for a CODA meeting is as follows:

• Welcome and opening
• Moment of silence and recitation of the Serenity Prayer
• Explanation of 12-Steps, expectation of confidentiality, and reiteration of openness to all and no cost for membership
• Reading from the Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) Literature
• Introductions around the room (first name only, though no one is required to speak)
• Introduction of the speaker or facilitator of the meeting
• Discussion
• Announcements
• Passing of the collection plate, donations are not required although this is how the AA group sustains itself
• Closing, most likely with a Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) reading and a closing prayer

As Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) meetings are meant to be a fellowship, there is also often coffee and refreshments at some point either before, during, or after the CODA meeting for networking and socializing. CODA members may choose to volunteer at CODA meetings as coffee makers, greeters, literature distributor, or they can get more involved volunteering as the CODA group’s secretary, CODA treasurer, CODA chairperson, etc.

Those who have been in Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) for a long period of time may become a “sponsor” for newer CODA members. A sponsor is a more veteran member of the CODA group, who has gone through the same difficulty you may be facing, has taken the 12-steps of the CODA program, knows the literature and will guide you through the 12 steps of Co-Dependents Anonymous to help with your success. CODA sponsors also offer encouragement around the clock, helping to provide in-the-moment support and guidance when needed, and introduce you to other Recovery Resources. CODA sponsors are often available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, usually by phone, to help sponsees get through potentially difficult situations, temptations, or triggering events. CODA sponsors may meet or check-in with their sponsees regularly, and lifelong relationships may be formed.

Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) groups are safe environments free from drugs, and other mind altering substances, where individuals are surrounded by others with the same goal of sustained clean time and recovery. These Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) meetings can provide individuals with a network of clean peers who can understand and empathize with each other in ways that others who are not in Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) may not be able to as easily.

The Recovery HQ Team is here to help you!

It’s important to know that you and your loved one are not alone in your fight for sobriety. Whether you choose to go to Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) meetings, take up meditation or yoga or use other resources, taking the first step toward regaining your life has begun. Contact our dedicated team and we will help find the solution which best fits your needs.