Co-Dependents Anonymous

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Co-Dependents Anonymous
AbbreviationCoDA
FormationOctober 22, 1986;39 years ago (1986-10-22) [1]
Type Twelve-step program; mutual aid group [2] [3]
PurposeSupport for people who share a common desire to develop functional and healthy relationships [2] [3]
Headquarters Phoenix, Arizona, United States [1]
Region served
Worldwide
ServicesPeer support meetings (in-person and online)
Website coda.org

Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) is a twelve-step program for people who share a common desire to develop functional and healthy relationships. [2] [3] [1]

Contents

The first CoDA meeting attended by 30 people was held October 22, 1986, in Phoenix, Arizona. [1] [4] Within four weeks there were 100 people, and before the year was up there were 120 groups. [5] CoDA held its first National Service Conference the next year with 29 representatives from seven states. [1] : 567  [5] CoDA's meeting directory lists more than 1,000 meetings in the United States and meetings in many other countries; CoDA World Service reports that meetings exist in over 70 countries worldwide, and CoDA also maintains directories for online and phone meetings. [6] [7]

CoDA itself avoids rigidly defining codependence, [1] : 4  and the understanding of codependence with CoDA continues to adapt over time. In 1991, Charles Whitfield published a 38-item Likert-type checklist based on the 1989 version of the CoDA pamphlet, "What is Co-Dependency?" known as the Co-Dependents Anonymous Checklist. [8] Later research found scores from people completing the Co-Dependents Anonymous Checklist and the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale were strongly correlated. [9]

The checklist cited by Whitfield has subsequently developed into "The Patterns and Characteristics of Codependence". At the 2010 CoDA Service Conference (CSC), this list went from 22 items in four Patterns termed Denial, Low Self-Esteem, Compliance, and Control, to 55 items divided into the same groups with the addition of Avoidance Patterns. [10] Examples of these patterns include: "I have difficulty identifying what I am feeling... I judge what I think, say or do harshly, as never good enough... I put aside my own interests in order to do what others want... I freely offer advice and direction to others without being asked... I use indirect or evasive communication to avoid conflict or confrontation." [11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Codependents Anonymous (1995). Codependents Anonymous . Phoenix, AZ: Codependents Anonymous, Inc. ISBN   0-9647105-0-1.
  2. 1 2 3 Rice, John Steadman (1996). A Disease of One's Own: Psychotherapy, Addiction, and the Emergence of Co-Dependency . New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. ISBN   0765804549. OCLC   33009336.
  3. 1 2 3 Co-Dependents Anonymous (1998). "The Preamble of Co-Dependents Anonymous". Co-Dependents Anonymous. Archived from the original on 1999-11-10. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  4. ↑ Irvine, Leslie (1995). "Codependency and Recovery: Gender, Self, and Emotions in Popular Self-Help". Symbolic Interaction. 18 (2): 145–163. doi:10.1525/si.1995.18.2.145.
  5. 1 2 Irvine, Leslie (1999). Codependent Forevermore: The Invention of Self in a Twelve Step Group. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 30. ISBN   978-0-226-38474-0.
  6. ↑ "International Meetings". CoDA.org. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  7. ↑ "World-wide Support". CoDA.org. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  8. ↑ Charles L. Whitfield (1991). "Appendix B: Diagnostic and Survey Instruments" . Co-dependence: Healing the human condition. Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc. pp.  277–278. ISBN   155874150X. OCLC   23180004.
  9. ↑ Lindley, Natasha R.; Giordano, Peter J.; Hammer, Elliott D. (1999). "Codependency: Predictors and psychometric issues". Journal of Clinical Psychology. 55 (1): 59–64. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199901)55:1<59::AID-JCLP5>3.0.CO;2-M. PMID   10100831.
  10. ↑ "Patterns and Characteristics of Codependence". Archived from the original on 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  11. ↑ Codependents Anonymous Inc. "Recovery from Codependence". Codependents Anonymous Inc. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
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