Preventing Relapse

Twelfth Step Within Format for Information Gathering: “Ideas that Work”

Preventing Relapse/Ways to Support Those in Relapse

1. Members can wear: “Hello, I have _______ days back from relapse. Ask me how I did it!” on their name tags at events, such as conventions.
2. No abstinence requirement for sharing at meetings. Meetings can always be timed.
3. Keep attending meetings no matter what, especially face-to-face meetings.
4. Find guest speakers who were in relapse and are now abstinent to share what helped them come out of relapse.
5. Encourage members to share their full story, including “what it used to be like.” For example, a member recalled at one meeting hearing another member share about a desperate behavior around food. They had never heard this member share about their experience with the disease before and thought, “Wow—she was that bad, too!”
6. Retreats, special events, and workshops are VERY IMPORTANT. Connection with the Fellowship can be hard for us all, but it may be harder for those in relapse. Spending more than 1 to 2 hours with other members at workshops and Twelve Step study groups helps strengthen both the Fellowship and the message.
7. Ask your Higher Power for an easy day, saying, “I clearly can’t handle anything more.”
8. Remember that if you’re struggling, you can give up the struggle. If you are fighting, you can get out of the boxing ring. It isn’t about winning the battle, but being free of the battle you are never going to win.
9. Keep it really, really simple, and keep heading in a Good Orderly Direction. Say, “If the only thing I can do today is be abstinent, that is enough.”
10. Remember that it’s all about practice. Life is a rehearsal. Just keep practicing—practicing abstinence, practicing talking to your Higher Power, etc. We are meant to get it wrong: Step Ten says “when” we get it wrong, not “if” we get it wrong.

OA Board-approved. © Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved. Rev. 3/24.