Note: The Suggested Recovery-from-Relapse Meeting Format includes readings of Our Invitation to You (which includes the Twelve Steps of OA), the Twelve Traditions of OA, the Tools of Recovery (abridged), the Recovery Insurance Policy, and the OA Promise. Find, print, and/or download these resources in the Document Library on oa.org. Links to these resources are both embedded and listed at the end of the meeting format.

The meeting to begin at [time] __________.

1. Opening

“Welcome to this recovery-from-relapse meeting of Overeaters Anonymous. My name is __________. I am your leader for this meeting. Please silence your phones at this time.”

2. Serenity Prayer

“Will those who wish, please join me in the Serenity Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

3. Welcome

“Welcome. This meeting format has been specifically designed to address recovery from relapse. Our goal is to create an environment of support by providing access to available sponsors with long-term abstinence and to encourage renewed recovery through a fresh perspective on how to work the Steps, including:

  • Working toward strong abstinence by using sponsors,
  • Reading and studying available OA-approved literature,
  • Working all of the Twelve Steps, and
  • Living in Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve by working ALL the Principles of the program.

“This meeting urges us to accept the idea that a plan of eating and the Twelve Steps together provide the best opportunity for success. It is also suggested that the use of all the Tools of Recovery greatly improves the quality of that success. The Twelve Steps of OA are our solution, wherein we gain freedom from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors. They work when we work them; our recovery depends on it.”

4. Introductions

“Let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves by first names.” [Welcome everyone present.]

5. Preamble

“The following is the OA Preamble:

Overeaters Anonymous is a Fellowship of individuals who, through shared experience, strength, and hope, are recovering from compulsive overeating. We welcome everyone who wants to stop eating compulsively. There are no dues or fees for members; we are self-supporting through our own contributions, neither soliciting nor accepting outside donations. OA is not affiliated with any public or private organization, political movement, ideology, or religious doctrine; we take no position on outside issues. Our primary purpose is to abstain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors and to carry the message of recovery through the Twelve Steps of OA to those who still suffer.”

6. Reading

“I’ve asked _________ [preselected volunteer] to read Our Invitation to You, which includes the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous.

“I’ve asked _________ [preselected volunteer] to read the Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous.”

“The following reading is from our OA pamphlet Welcome Back: Suggestions for Members in Relapse and for Those Who Care:

Many of us found that our fears unconsciously led us to use food for comfort or escape, but the food eventually overwhelmed and imprisoned us. When we came back to OA, we feared judgment because we considered relapse a failure. It is not. Relapse is proof that we are human and our disease is serious. When treated as a learning experience, relapse does not mean failure. Relapse is not inevitable, but for some of us, it has played a significant part in our long-term recovery. We fell, got up, learned from the experience, and recommitted ourselves at a deeper level to the program. We were always warmly welcomed. The only time we fail in OA is when we stop trying” (p. 1).

7. Abstinence and Recovery

“The definitions of abstinence and recovery in Overeaters Anonymous are:

Abstinence is the action of refraining from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors while working towards or maintaining a healthy body weight.

Spiritual, emotional, and physical recovery is the result of living and working the Overeaters Anonymous Twelve Step program on a daily basis.”

(Business Conference Policy Manual, 1988b [amended 2019, 2021])

8. Tools

“The OA Tools of Recovery help us work the Steps and refrain from compulsive overeating. The nine Tools are: a plan of eating, sponsorship, meetings, telephone, writing, literature, an action plan, anonymity, and service. For more information, read The Tools of Recovery pamphlet.” [Or read The Tools of Recovery (abridged).]

9. Contact Info

“We will now circulate our contact information list. Please write down your contact information, and we suggest that you take down the information of two or more attendees to call during the week. We will keep this list circulating throughout the meeting.”

10. Options for Main Message

You may wish to choose one of the following suggestions to be used every week or alternate among them on different weeks of the month.

Leader or guest speaks for fifteen to twenty minutes, sharing experience, strength, and hope on relapse and recovery. Topics could include “The Solution Is in the Steps,” “Recovery in God’s Time, Not Mine,” or “Positive Action Strengthens Recovery.”

Leader begins a story from OA’s A New Beginning: Stories of Recovery from Relapse, which is available as an e-book, or a story from chapter 8 of Taste of Lifeline, ‘‘Recovery from Relapse,’’ pp. 123–137. Each member reads one or two paragraphs and may share on the reading.

Use “Been Slipping and Sliding? A Reading and Writing Tool,” in the Twelfth-Step-Within Handbook, Appendix D, pp. 21–24, also available as a free download on oa.org. Leader can choose one question as the topic; members can take turns reading paragraphs from the suggested reading. The remainder of the meeting time can be used for reading and discussion or discussion only on the question.

Meeting members decide on the format that works best for them, such as speakers, readings, reading and writing, or alternating these activities.

11. Sponsors

“We are not meant to work this program alone. Most of us have found it indispensable to call on the support of a sponsor for guidance in working our threefold program of recovery. Sponsorship is one of our keys to success. Sponsors are OA members committed to abstinence and to living the Steps and Traditions to the best of their ability. Sponsors share their program up to the level of their experience and strengthen their recovery through this service to others. To find a sponsor, look for someone who has what you want, and ask that member how they are achieving it. Would all abstinent sponsors please identify themselves?”

12. Seventh Tradition

“According to our Seventh Tradition, we are self-supporting through our own contributions. Expenses are __________, __________, and __________. We send regular contributions to our intergroup or service board, our region, and the World Service Office to help carry the message to other compulsive overeaters. Give as if your life depends on it! We encourage OA members to give as much as they are able, to help our group be self-supporting. The suggested contribution is US$5.00 or more.”

13. Reports

Secretary makes OA-related announcements; presents coins and medallions, if customary. Intergroup representative’s report and treasurer’s report are to be given once a month.

14. Recovery Insurance Policy

[optional] “This meeting uses the Recovery Insurance Policy, a commitment between two members to support each other’s recovery. It can be found on our literature table; you may wish to take time during our break or after the meeting to make a pledge to an OA friend.”

15. Five- or Ten-Minute Break

[optional] If your meeting chooses to have a break, you can ask volunteers to serve as greeters to speak with newcomers or those returning to the meeting.

“May we have two volunteers to serve as greeters? Please see these members during the break for any questions you may have.”

16. Suggested Guideline for Sharing

We suggest you read the following before members begin sharing. Your group may modify this to better suit its needs.

“As you share your experience and strength in OA, please also share your hope. Please confine your sharing to your experience with the disease of compulsive eating, the solution offered by OA, and your own recovery from the disease, rather than just the events of the day or week. If you are having difficulties, share how you use the program to deal with them. If you need to talk more about your difficulties and seek solutions, we suggest you speak to your sponsor and other members after the meeting.

‘‘Feedback, cross talk, and advice-giving are discouraged here. Cross talk during an OA meeting is giving advice to others who have already shared, speaking directly to another person rather than to the group, and questioning or interrupting the person speaking or sharing at the time.

‘‘This meeting is now open for sharing. Please limit your sharing to __________ [suggest three to five minutes] so more members may have a chance to share.” [Optional: You may appoint someone to be a timer to remind members when the time has elapsed.]

17. Closing

“By following the Twelve Steps, attending meetings regularly, and using the OA Tools, we are changing our lives. You will find hope and encouragement in Overeaters Anonymous. To the newcomer, we suggest attending at least six different meetings to learn the many ways OA can help you.

“There are many different types of meetings, all of which are available to support your recovery from compulsive eating. We welcome you to this meeting whenever you would care to attend. There are other face-to-face meetings and virtual (phone and technology based) meetings that you may find helpful. Information about these meetings can be found on oa.org.

“The opinions expressed here today are those of individual OA members and do not represent OA as a whole. Please remember our commitment to honor each other’s anonymity. Whom you see here, what you hear here, when you leave here, let it stay here. Let us all reach out by phone or email to newcomers, returning members, and each other. Together we get better.

“Thank you for asking me to be your leader. After a moment of silence, will those of you who wish please join us in __________.” Select one of the following suggested closings listed on oa.org: Serenity Prayer, Seventh Step Prayer, Third Step Prayer, or the OA Promise (‘I put my hand in yours…’).

Find, print, and/or download the resources mentioned in this meeting format in the Document Library on oa.org:

OA Responsibility Pledge

Always to extend the hand and heart of OA
to all who share my compulsion;
for this I am responsible.

OA Board-approved
© 1989 . . . 2016 Overeaters Anonymous®, Inc. All rights reserved. Rev. 1/2024.

Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. World Service Office
Location: 6075 Zenith Court NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144, USA
Mailing address: PO Box 44727, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4727, USA
Telephone: +1 505-891-2664