LAA
Love Addicts Anonymous

12 Traditions of LAA
Explained

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon LAA unity.The common welfare comes first. Each member of LAA is a small aspect of a larger whole. Group welfare and support come first, with individual health and safety coming in a very close second.

2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority; a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants, they do not govern. The loving God does not need to be the Christian God. Rather, this is God as the ultimate authority in whatever form works for each group’s collective consciousness.

3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking. No one is turned away if they wish to overcome love addiction and/or codependency. Membership with the group is based only on progress in your recovery and following the 12 Steps, not on money or conformity. Any two or more individuals using the 12 Steps to overcome love addiction and codependency can use the name LAA if they have no other affiliation.

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups, or LAA as a whole.There is no centralized AA authority that affects individual groups. The group is responsible only to the group’s conscience. The one exception involves other 12-Step groups, which should be consulted if one group’s decisions affect others. No regional committee or individual member should take an action that affects the LAA group. Nnor should regional authorities or individual members take actions that affect LAA as a whole without consulting the General Services Board. The common welfare is paramount.

5. Each group has but one primary purpose--to carry its message to others who still suffer from love addiction and codependencyEach LAA group is essentially a spiritual entity whose higher purpose is to save those who still struggle with this problem by bringing them a message of hope.

6. A LAA group ought never endorse, finance or lend the LAA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose. LAA does not give money, endorsement, or prestige to organizations outside the group’s mission. The problems of money, property, and authority divert group members from their process of recovery, and may add stress that can prevent them from being successful. Facilities used for meetings should not use “Love Addicts Anonymous” in their name. Any property used by the LAA group should be owned and managed separately from the members, maintaining the divide between the spiritual and material. The AA group should never go into business as an entity, although individual members should have or work toward gainful employment. Cooperating with individuals, businesses, or organizations is encouraged, but not to the point of endorsement, whether implied or actual.

7. Every LAA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.Individual members who are able to should contribute financially to any needs the group has. Public solicitation of funds, to support the LAA group, individual members, or the overall LAA movement, is unwise and can pull focus from the group’s collective success to material struggles. It is also important that individual LAA group treasuries do not accumulate more money than what is required for specific LAA purposes.

8. LAA should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers. The core of the group meetings is nonprofessional, peer support. In the context of LAA leadership, “professionalism” is defined as a trained counselor whose occupation is to provide therapy for fee or hire. LAA does not employ these professionals to lead groups, but instead focuses on the mutual support of peers helping each other through. Sometimes, LAA hires members to perform specific services that help the group or regional organization, but these tasks never include leading the group.

9. LAA, as such, ought never be organized, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve. As little organization as possible should be used to maintain the group’s identity. Leadership should rotate. There are some elected positions, including a secretary for minutes and a committee, but these positions should frequently cycle. The trustees in the LAA International Committee are custodians of the overall LAA Traditions and Steps, and maintain contributions and public relations. They no authority over specific groups, and they do not govern; their focus is on serving LAA as a whole.

10. LAA has no opinion on outside issues, hence the LAA name ought never be drawn into public controversy. LAA remains apolitical, with no opinion on outside issues. LAA members should not use the group identity to express support or opposition to issues outside LAA itself. These include political views, sectarian religion, or public reform. LAA opposes no one and exists to help people struggling with love addiction and codependency.

11.Our public relations policy is based upon attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films [and other media] Personal anonymity of members is deeply important. Anonymity exists to protect group members from public scrutiny and opinion. LAA should avoid sensational advertising, and the names, faces, or other identities of members should never be used to promote the program, shame members, or otherwise attract attention. Praising groups or individual members is unnecessary; recommendation to LAA should be only for those in need of help.

12.Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of the traditions, placing principles above personalities. The principle of anonymity has spiritual significance, allowing members the freedom to express their struggles and their completion of the steps. Anonymity reminds members to focus on principles above personalities, and to practice genuine humility.