ABA uses the Twelve-Step Program adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous to address the mental, emotional, and spiritual components of the disorders of anorexia and bulimia. Many people who identify compulsive overeating as the primary component of their eating disorder have been able to relate to our program and have found recovery through it. They are welcome to participate in our Fellowship.
By following the Twelve Steps we have come to a deep level of freedom from our deadly obsessions with body weight and shape and with food, obsessions that once dominated our minds and dictated the course of our lives. We learn in ABA that our eating disorders are a form of addiction, that the key to recovery is to find sobriety in our eating and exercise patterns, and that none of us can do that alone.
In ABA we find the guidance and compassionate support of other anorexics and bulimics who have gone before us in recovery, and we receive the courage to surrender our unhealthy behavior patterns. Each of us comes to connect with a Higher Power of our own understanding, who heals our minds as we stay sober physically.
Many of us learned that to become fully sober we needed to let go absolutely and surrender all control of our food, exercise, and body weight and shape to a Higher Power. In early recovery this Power worked through other human beings. Later, as we are restored to sanity by following the Twelve Steps, we come to connect with this Power alive within ourselves.
If you are new to this program, we suggest you attend 6 different meetings to decide if this fellowship is for you.
ABA Zoom meetings are safe and supportive spaces for people recovering from eating disorders. Each meeting usually begins with the Serenity Prayer, the ABA Preamble, followed by a reading from the ABA Book. Some meetings feature a speaker who shares their experience, and then time is opened for members to share. Members may share in turn or by raising their hand, with the chairperson helping to guide the flow so everyone has a chance. Meetings are kept within a set timeframe, honor anonymity, and follow ABA’s Steps and Traditions. After some meetings, members can stay for an informal social time to connect with others in fellowship. ABA does offer some in-person meetings, as well.
You may also want to listen to our podcast to listen to stories of people who have recovered from an eating disorder following the ABA twelve steps program. There is a link to the podcast on the homepage of this website.
Here is a link to check out our textbook: https://archive.org/details/anorexicsbulimic00fait
RIGHT FOR YOU?
The following documents may help you identify whether the ABA program is right for you: