{{Short description|Support group}} {{Infobox organization | name = Co-Dependents Anonymous | abbreviation = CoDA | formation = {{start date and age|1986|10|22}}<ref name="CODA1995" /> | type = Twelve-step program; mutual aid group<ref name="RICE1996" /><ref name="PREAMBLE" /> | purpose = Support for people who share a common desire to develop functional and healthy relationships<ref name="RICE1996" /><ref name="PREAMBLE" /> | headquarters = Phoenix, Arizona, United States<ref name="CODA1995" /> | region_served = Worldwide | services = Peer support meetings (in-person and online) | website = {{URL|https://coda.org}} }}
'''Co-Dependents Anonymous''' ('''CoDA''') is a twelve-step program for people who share a common desire to develop functional and healthy relationships.<ref name="RICE1996">{{cite book |last=Rice |first=John Steadman |title=A Disease of One's Own: Psychotherapy, Addiction, and the Emergence of Co-Dependency |url=https://archive.org/details/diseaseofonesown0000rice |url-access=registration |year=1996 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |isbn=0765804549 |oclc=33009336}}</ref><ref name="PREAMBLE">{{cite web |author=Co-Dependents Anonymous |title=The Preamble of Co-Dependents Anonymous |website=Co-Dependents Anonymous |date=1998 |url=http://www.codependents.org/tools4recovery/preamble.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991110055814/http://www.codependents.org/codapre.html |archive-date=1999-11-10 |url-status=dead |access-date=2010-01-03}}</ref><ref name="CODA1995">{{cite book |last=Codependents Anonymous |title=Codependents Anonymous |year=1995 |publisher=Codependents Anonymous, Inc. |location=Phoenix, AZ |isbn=0-9647105-0-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/codependentsanon00coda}}</ref>
The first CoDA meeting attended by 30 people was held on October 22, 1986, in Phoenix, Arizona.<ref name="CODA1995" /><ref name="IRVINE1995">{{cite journal | last = Irvine | first = Leslie | date = 1995 | title = Codependency and Recovery: Gender, Self, and Emotions in Popular Self-Help | journal = Symbolic Interaction | volume = 18 | issue = 2 | pages = 145–163 | doi = 10.1525/si.1995.18.2.145 | url = https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/si.1995.18.2.145 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> Within four weeks there were 100 people, and before the year was up there were 120 groups.<ref name="IRVINE1999">{{cite book | last = Irvine | first = Leslie | title = Codependent Forevermore: The Invention of Self in a Twelve Step Group | publisher = University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago | year = 1999 | isbn = 978-0-226-38474-0 | url = https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo3616362.html | page=30 }}</ref> CoDA held its first National Service Conference the next year with 29 representatives from seven states.<ref name="CODA1995" />{{Rp|567}}<ref name="IRVINE1999" /> 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.<ref name="CODA_INTL_DIR">{{cite web |title=International Meetings |website=CoDA.org |url=https://coda.org/find-a-meeting/international-meetings/ |access-date=2026-01-18}}</ref><ref name="CODA_WORLDWIDE">{{cite web |title=World-wide Support |website=CoDA.org |url=https://coda.org/outreach/supporting-members/world-wide-support/ |access-date=2026-01-18}}</ref>
CoDA avoids rigidly defining codependence,<ref name="CODA1995" />{{Rp|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.<ref name="WHITFIELD1991">{{cite book |author=Charles L. Whitfield |date=1991 |title=Co-dependence: Healing the human condition |location=Deerfield Beach, Florida |publisher=Health Communications, Inc |isbn=155874150X |oclc=23180004 |chapter=Appendix B: Diagnostic and Survey Instruments |pages=[https://archive.org/details/codependenceheal00whit/page/277 277–278] |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/codependenceheal00whit/page/277 }}</ref> Later research found scores from people completing the Co-Dependents Anonymous Checklist and the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale were strongly correlated.<ref name="LINDLEY1999">{{cite journal |last1=Lindley |first1=Natasha R. |last2=Giordano |first2=Peter J. |last3=Hammer |first3=Elliott D. |title=Codependency: Predictors and psychometric issues |journal=Journal of Clinical Psychology |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=59–64 |year=1999 |pmid=10100831 |doi=10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199901)55:1<59::AID-JCLP5>3.0.CO;2-M}}</ref>
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.<ref name="CODAPATTERNS">{{cite web|title=Patterns and Characteristics of Codependence|url=https://www.coda.org/tools4recovery/Patterns%202011.htm|access-date=2013-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225170401/http://www.coda.org/tools4recovery/Patterns%202011.htm|archive-date=2013-02-25|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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."<ref name="CODARECOVERYT">{{cite web|title=Recovery from Codependence|url=http://coda.org|publisher=Codependents Anonymous Inc.|accessdate=May 17, 2013|author=Codependents Anonymous Inc.}}</ref>
== See also == * Alcoholism in family systems * Adult Children of Alcoholics * Al-Anon/Alateen * List of twelve-step groups
== References == {{Reflist|2}}
== External links == * [https://coda.org/ Co-Dependents Anonymous]
{{Authority control}}
Category:Codependency Category:Twelve-step programs Category:Mental health support groups Category:Organizations established in 1986 Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States Category:International non-profit organizations Category:1986 establishments