Media Category: Literature

These guidelines have been developed through the experience of OA members and the Board of Trustees, who have contributed to their creation. They reflect OA Traditions and Concepts of Service as reflected in our OA Conference-approved literature. These guidelines are strong suggestions based on the experience of those who have gone before. The guidelines do not replace the group conscience of local OA members, but we encourage OA groups and service bodies to consider carefully before acting contrary to these suggestions.

Overeaters Anonymous supports the development of literature where current OA literature doesn’t fill a need. Locally produced literature may include stories of personal recovery unique to specific geographic areas, languages, or cultural groups. While the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions are the common ground of all OA members throughout the world, stories that demonstrate our diversity can help individuals achieve recovery.

Locally produced literature may also include material for public information or professional outreach efforts in a specific area, or OA recovery-oriented literature. OA newsletters have their own specific guidelines, Guidelines for OA Newsletters, available at oa.org/document-library under “Guidelines.”

In the spirit of unity, the following guidelines are offered to assist in the development of locally produced literature.

1. Locally produced literature should be developed, reviewed, and approved by a service body beyond the group level, except for newsletters, meeting lists, flyers, posters, letterhead, and business cards.
2. The OA logo may be used only with written permission. Submit the “Permission to Use the OA Logo” form (PDF or DOCX), available on the Copy Requests page at oa.org, to the World Service Office to start the process. The group or service body name must appear under the logo.
3. If developed for sale, the literature may be sold only within the Fellowship.
4. Check the copyright procedures and guidelines on the Copy Requests page at oa.org for an explanation of what literature requires written permission to reprint and what does not. To reprint excerpts from literature not listed as available to registered groups and service bodies for reprinting without written permission, submit the “Reprint Permission” form (PDF or DOCX) to the World Service Office (WSO).
5. Include the following disclaimer on the cover page of each piece of literature: “This literature has been locally produced by [service body name here]. The content reflects the experience, strength, and hope of our local members. It is not OA Conference- or Board-approved and does not represent OA as a whole.”
6. We recommend that the Responsibility Pledge be included in all published locally produced literature, social media, newsletters, and bulletins.
7. Upon completion of the literature’s development, prior to publication, send one copy to the region liaison and one copy to the WSO. If your service body has not received permission to use the OA logo yet, this copy should be sent with a “Permission to Use the OA Logo” form for permission to publish the literature with the logo.
8. When publishing either local OA history or the history of OA as a whole, ensure that the information is accurately presented. Guidelines to support the development of local OA history, Suggested Guidelines for Writing the History of Your Local OA Area, are available at oa.org/document-library under “Guidelines.”
9. Literature should not judge programs in other areas or compare them with the local program.
10. Review literature carefully to ensure it upholds our Traditions.
11. If the literature includes personal stories of recovery, it is recommended that diverse stories by multiple authors be included.
12. We recommend the sponsoring service body create a committee of three to four currently abstinent members to oversee the literature development or review process. This committee should bring their recommendations to the sponsoring service body for approval.
13. “Local literature should be considered temporary and discontinued when OA literature approved for general use is available to cover the topic” (Statement on Approved Literature adopted at the 2010 World Service Business Conference, amended 2012). To read the full Statement, see the OA-Approved Literature List at oa.org/document-library under “Guidelines.”

 

OA Responsibility Pledge

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

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OA Board-Approved
©1998, 2000, 2009, 2018, 2019 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. Rev 5/2023. All rights reserved.

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

As we work the Overeaters Anonymous Twelve Step program of recovery from compulsive eating, we have a number of Tools to assist us. We use these Tools—a plan of eating, sponsorship, meetings, telephone, writing, literature, action plan, anonymity, and service—on a regular basis, to help us achieve and maintain abstinence and recovery from our disease.

A Plan of Eating

As a Tool, a plan of eating helps us abstain from compulsive eating, guides us in our dietary decisions, and defines what, when, how, where, and why we eat. (See the pamphlet A New Plan of Eating for more information.) This Tool helps us deal with the physical aspects of our disease and achieve physical recovery.

Sponsorship

We ask a sponsor to help us through all three levels of our program of recovery: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Find a sponsor who has what you want and ask that person how they are achieving it.

Meetings

Meetings give us an opportunity to identify our common problem, confirm our common solution, and share the gifts we receive through this Twelve Step program. In addition to face-to-face meetings, OA offers telephone and other types of virtual meetings that are useful in breaking through the deadly isolation caused by distance, illness, or physical challenges.

Telephone

Many members call, text, or email their sponsors and other OA members daily. Telephone or electronic contact also provides an immediate outlet for those hard-to-handle highs and lows we may experience.

Writing

Putting our thoughts and feelings down on paper, or describing a troubling or joyous incident, helps us better understand our actions and reactions in a way that is often not revealed by simply thinking or talking about them.

Literature

We read OA-approved literature, which includes numerous books, study guides, pamphlets, wallet cards, and selected Alcoholics Anonymous texts. All this material provides insight into our disease and the experience, strength, and hope that there is a solution for us.

Action Plan

Creating an action plan is the process of identifying and implementing attainable actions to support our individual abstinence and emotional, spiritual, and physical recovery. This Tool, like our plan of eating, may vary widely among members and may need to be adjusted as we progress in our recovery.

Anonymity

Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities (Tradition Twelve). Anonymity assures us that only we, as individual OA members, have the right to make our membership known to others. Anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, television, and other public media of communication means that we never allow our faces or last names to be used once we identify ourselves as OA members (Tradition Eleven). Within the Fellowship, anonymity means that whatever we share with another OA member will be respected and kept confidential. What we hear at meetings should remain there.

Service

Any form of service—no matter how small—that helps reach a fellow sufferer adds to the quality of our own recovery. Members who are new to OA can give service by attending meetings, sharing, and putting away chairs. All members can also give service by putting out literature, welcoming newcomers, hosting a virtual meeting, or doing whatever is needed to help the group. Members who meet specified requirements can give service beyond the group level by serving at the intergroup, service board, region, or world service level.

As OA’s Responsibility Pledge states: “Always to extend the hand and heart of OA to all who share my compulsion; for this I am responsible.”

See the full Tools of Recovery pamphlet for more information.

OA Responsibility Pledge

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

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OA Board-approved
©1989 … 2011 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved. Rev. 6/2022.
#512

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