Okay, I hope this is the right place for this… and I’ve REALLY tried to find info on this exact question and have not had any luck at all.
How would I go about starting a twelve-step group of a type that doesn’t exist yet? I truly think that this group would fill the needs of so many people who don’t have a support group for this particular issue, that it NEEDS to be a twelve-step group, and that no existing twelve-step group fits the description. Is there some… general foundation of twelve-stepness that would need to approve it? Could I adapt existing literature? Does anybody have any idea??
Thanks for the infinite wisdom of those on this board,
A good share of your "market " probably already exists in the other 12 step groups.
If I were you I’d get a list of all the meetings in your area, attend them, find out who’s leading the group for the day and ask for an opportunity to let the members in on what you are trying to accomplish. I have found that AA members are quite supportive of other 12 step groups.
You might also check the phone book for your nearest Alano, the local headquarters, of sorts, for AA. They might have some information that would help you. If not, they could probably direct you to someone who does.
Check with AA General Services in New York before you set out to adapt existing literature or something like that. AA has struggled with copyright issues on certain materials in the past.
Of course, you can happily buy a copy of the book “Alcoholics Anonymous” and sit around with a couple of fellow seekers and substitute the disorder of your choice for the word “alcohol” or “alcoholic” whenever it comes up in the steps and traditions. I believe that might be how NA originally started…