OA meetings are places for members to share their experiences, hope, and strength. They also discuss the threefold recovery program of OA, which includes spiritual, emotional and physical recovery. They also help each other with their eating problems.
Members are asked to keep their faces and last names private, unless they are sharing about their recovery. In addition, they must not gossip.
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OA is a Twelve-Step program
OA’s Twelve-Step program, modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous, offers a spiritual way of life that brings many compulsive overeaters physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. Its key principles are admitting powerlessness over food and accepting a higher power that can restore control. OA members are encouraged to communicate with one another through literature and share their experiences at meetings.
Unlike other 12 Step programs, OA does not require religious belief as a condition for membership. Its spiritual recovery program is based on acceptance of certain spiritual values, but members are free to interpret them as they see fit. Its members include people from diverse religious faiths and atheists.
Meetings take place in groups of two or more people and are called “meetings.” During the pandemic, most OA meetings are virtual. OA groups also maintain contact with intergroup and the World Service Office through email, telephone, and in-person conferences. In addition, most groups pass a basket at their meetings to cover costs.
It is a fellowship
The OA is open to any youth or adult who wishes to stop compulsive eating. Its membership is comprised of young people and adults from all walks of life. Its program is organized into local, youth-led lodges that harbor fellowship, promote camping, and render service to the Boy Scout councils in which they reside. Members are known as Arrowmen or Brothers (regardless of gender; the OA is not affiliated with any particular gender), and they wear distinctive insignia at their meetings and other official OA functions.
OA members connect over the phone or online for regular OA meetings. These meetings last an hour and a half and include time for questions. Newcomers can also pick up a Questions and Answers pamphlet to help them understand the program. The OA also publishes meeting podcasts for those who cannot attend in person. There are 6,500 OA meetings in over 80 countries. Some have a special focus for men. To find a meeting, visit the OA Online Meeting List.
It is a nonprofit organization
The nonprofit organization offers free meetings online, based on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The meetings are held around the world. They connect researchers, librarians, students, policy-makers and coders to share resources and foster a growing open community. The group focuses on developing open tools, providing funding for new projects, and helping to shape national and international policies. It also promotes the use of open standards and formats.
Founded in 1938, the ICDE is a global membership organization advocating access and equity through open and flexible learning. It works closely with UNESCO as a consultative partner. Its core values include openness, innovation and diversity.
Focused on green OA worldwide. Successor to the Communia Thematic Network and funded by the European Commission until February 2011. Also focuses on Earth and space science data facilities. Site available in Italian and English.
It is a spiritual program
OA is non-profit and self-supporting, using donations to fund literature, meetings, and service bodies. Those interested in the program can attend an OA meeting to learn more and ask questions. A pamphlet called “Questions and Answers” is available to help newcomers understand OA’s principles and practices.
While the OA is not religious, it does have a spiritual foundation. Members are encouraged to define for themselves a higher power that they can refer to as they continue their recovery. This higher power may be a deity, the group, or a spiritual principle. Many atheists and agnostics find success in OA.
There are approximately 8,500 OA meetings worldwide, which are open to anyone who has a desire to stop compulsive eating. Meetings are conducted in person and online, and follow a program patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous. Most OA meetings last about an hour, and are free of charge. Some are even conducted via conference call. A new OA meeting type, called a virtual or non-real-time meeting, allows members to connect online from all over the world.