Co-Dependents Anonymous in Albir

– a programme to develop healthy relationships

Co-Dependents Anonymous, CoDA, is a worldwide fellowship of men and women whose common purpose is to develop new and renewed healthy and loving relationships with oneself and others.

Codependents often use others as their source of identity, value and well-being, and as a means to restore emotional losses from childhood. Some may also have used other addictions to cope with their codependence.

Codependency is a deeply rooted, compulsive behaviour that is born out of moderately or sometimes extremely dysfunctional family systems – for some also where addictions and abuse existed.

Codependent behaviour can present itself in various forms, being over controlling, having difficulty expressing ones feelings, needs and wants, dedicating oneself to the well being of others, causing harm to themselves, people pleasing, being highly critical of themselves and others, difficult in letting others get close for fear of rejection, confrontation or experiencing anger.

CoDA offers no definition of what a codependent is, but with a list of patterns and characteristics, each person can evaluate him or herself.

Codependency leads to destructive behaviour and relationship both to oneself, to others, to llife itself, and to a higher power as each one may define it.

CoDA is a recovery programme that works with a structure of 12 Steps for individual work, preferably with a sponsor (a fellow codependent that has experience in their own recovery) and weekly meetings.

The only requirement to join the meeting is having a desire for healthy and loving relationships.

CoDA is one of a number of 12 step programmes, the first of which was developed over 80 years ago.

Twelve step programmes have proved to help sufferers with many types of dependency and addictive behaviours, such as alcohol addiction AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), drug addiction NA (Narcotics Anonymous), food addiction OA (Overeaters Anonymous), sex addiction SA (Sexaholics Anonymous), gambling GA (Gamblers Anonymous) and many more besides.

As its very name expresses, this is an anonymous programme. That means that each person assisting presents him/ herself with first name only (no title, no background, no explanation...), chooses what to share/say, and can be sure that anything that is shared in the meeting will remain there. This is essential to secure a safe place for recovery, as is being experienced and practised in all 12 Step fellowships.

Our meetings are held in English, and we meet at the Norwegian church in Albir which is located at Carrer Mart 8. Meetings are every Monday at 19.00, with very few exceptions.

Our contact email is albircoda@gmail.com. For more information, please see coda.org.