One-on-One Professional Outreach: Demonstration Video and Talking Points

To all regions, service boards, and intergroups of Overeaters Anonymous,

As members of the Medical and Mental Health Subcommittee of the Public Information and Professional Outreach Committee, our service is to inform as many medical and mental health providers as possible about Overeaters Anonymous (OA). In order to enlist all OA members in achieving this common goal, we have created a demonstration video and accompanying list of talking points to assist members in conversations with medical and/or mental health providers about our program.

The Talking Points below are provided for OA members’ reference both before and during the conversation with a health care provider. In addition, OA members are encouraged to bring:

• The Professional Presentation Folder, available at bookstore.oa.org, which includes When Should I Refer Someone to Overeaters Anonymous?, the Membership Survey Report, and a cover letter to the professional
• A local meeting schedule
• The introductory pamphlet Where Do I Start?, available in print at bookstore.oa.org or print it yourself at oa.org/start

Where Do I Start? includes the Fifteen Questions, a description of the OA approach, and the world service website address (oa.org), where their clients may access more information about OA.

With sincere gratitude for your time, talents, and service,

Medical and Mental Health Subcommittee
World Service Business Conference Public Information and Professional Outreach Committee

Demonstration Video

This video, “One-on-One Professional Outreach,” is a model discussion with a clinical dietitian. “One-on-One Professional Outreach” is meant to be used as an example (not memorized verbatim) that can be adapted for individual member use with any medical or mental health provider. The video provides a detailed example of how OA members might bring up and address the OA program with their health providers. After viewing the video, OA members might imagine their own personal style of conveying the OA message.

Translated subtitles and transcripts in 23 languages are available using the buttons in the video menu. Use the “paper plane” share button below for options to download, post, embed, or share this video (links open to third-party websites).

This video is also available on the Public Information and Professional Outreach page at oa.org.

Talking Points: Sharing the OA Program with a Medical or Mental Health Care Provider

You may have had the experience of having patients who, despite your recommendations and guidance, continue to eat compulsively and damage their health. I’d like to tell you about Overeaters Anonymous, an excellent program with which I’m very familiar.

• Overeaters Anonymous (OA) is an effective Twelve Step program that helps people who have been unable to control their weight or who find they cannot stop bingeing, purging, or restricting.
• All are welcome, regardless of race, creed, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other trait.
• These individuals often have weight concerns, body image issues, food attitudes, or behaviors that cause or may result in health problems in the future.
• What OA is not:
  • It’s not a diet club.
  • It’s not a religious organization.
• There are no dues or fees. Overeaters Anonymous is self-supporting.
• OA is a fellowship. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.
• The program’s primary purpose is to abstain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors, one day at a time.
• Like alcoholics and drug addicts, compulsive eaters suffer from a physical, emotional, and spiritual disease.
• OA is patterned after the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
• A healthy body weight is achieved and maintained by:
  • Following the Twelve Steps of the Overeaters Anonymous program of recovery
  • Developing a healthy plan of eating
  • Working with a sponsor (someone who has achieved freedom from food obsession)
  • Receiving understanding and support from other members who have worked the program successfully
  • Using additional effective tools developed by Overeaters Anonymous
• OA strongly recommends that members seek the advice of medical, nutritional, and mental health professionals, if needed, for guidance.
• OA’s approach can enhance-not replace-existing treatment programs for those already under medical supervision.
• In the experience of OA members, this disease cannot be cured, but it can be arrested.
• There are many OA members who have been able to achieve a healthy body weight and maintain freedom from food obsession over many years.

I’m leaving you information today that explains the OA program in more detail. The Where Do I Start? pamphlet contains fifteen diagnostic questions that may help your patients determine if they are compulsive eaters or have compulsive food behaviors. I have also included a contact phone number and meeting schedule. The Fifteen Questions, a digital version of Where Do I Start?, and our digital database Find a Meeting are all located at our website, oa.org. If you think the OA program might help any of your patients, please refer them to oa.org and suggest they attend a meeting. They will be warmly welcomed!

OA Board-Approved. © 2024 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.