Co-Dependents Anonymous

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Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) is a twelve-step program the members of which strive for healthy relationships from a point of departure of codependence. A self-identifying statement reads:

Most of us have been searching for ways to overcome the dilemmas of the conflicts in our relationships and our childhoods. Many of us were raised in families where addictions existed - some of us were not. In either case, we have found in each of our lives that codependence is a most deeply rooted compulsive behavior and that it is born out of our sometimes moderately, sometimes extremely dysfunctional family systems. We have each experienced in our own ways the painful trauma of the emptiness of our childhood and relationships throughout our lives.

As for all twelve step groups, the third tradition identifies the membership requirement. In the case of CoDA it reads "The only requirement for membership in CoDA is a desire for healthy and loving relationships."

Co-Dependents Anonymous was founded in 1986 in Phoenix, Arizona. There are about 1200 groups in the United States; besides that, CoDA is active in more than 40 countries.