You Do Not Have to Work the Steps Alone.

Here are some ways to find a sponsor. We suggest you look first to the groups in your area for sponsors, attending as many meetings as you can. You are not limited to any minimum or maximum number of meetings. Visit other meetings and local OA events. Sponsors are often asked to identify themselves, and you can then approach them and ask if they are available.

Another resource for sponsors is telephone and/or online meetings. The Telephone Meeting or Online Meeting search on Find a Meeting will help you gather names of members in other areas who are willing to sponsor long distance, in a variety of electronic ways.

Sometimes local intergroups or national/language/specific-focus service bodies provide a list of members willing to sponsor. To locate the intergroup or national/language/specific-focus service body closest to your area go to the Find Service Body section of the Find a Meeting page.

You can also contact your region, which may have a list of names of members willing to sponsor. To contact someone in your region, go to the OA Regions Map page. You will find the region map and websites where you can send a request for assistance. Each region is autonomous; therefore, some regions may have this service while others do not.

Dear Fellow OA Members,

The promise of relief from our disease of compulsive eating may give newcomers the expectation that members who sponsor are speaking for OA as a whole. This puts the newcomer in a position to be vulnerable to recommendations that may not be in their best interest. When we first join the Fellowship, we may not be aware of how the practices of working the Twelve Steps vary with our members. No one member speaks for OA as a whole.

Sometimes we hear, “If you want what I have, you will do what I do” from individuals who appear to have the answer we are seeking.

Unfortunately, in some cases, the individuals who offer themselves as sponsors may go beyond the boundaries suggested for sponsorship and ask things that are inappropriate in the sponsor/sponsee relationship.

Sponsors are not professionals when they are doing Twelve Step work. They ought to only share or suggest changes that worked for them in their journey. Sponsors should not issue orders or make demands, for example, when it comes to the use of medications. Sponsors should not give advice regarding medications or other substances. All members of OA may choose their own plan of eating, their Higher Power, and how they work their program.

In OA, we are here to care for our members. If a sponsor becomes controlling or demands that you must behave in a certain way to recover, we suggest that you speak with a fellow member from another group or contact your local intergroup, national/language/specific-focus service body, region chair, or any trustee to discuss the matter. You may change sponsors or go to different meetings to find other ways that members use to heal from the disease of compulsive eating.

We individually judge our own abstinence, healthy weight, and plan of eating. Your sponsor and your OA group are there as helpful guides. Others in OA (sponsors or not) are not medical experts or counselors. Members and sponsors encourage—not judge—others on the path of recovery. We are asked to turn our will over to the care of a loving Higher Power. Other human beings help—not hinder—that process.

Yours in service,

Cyndy L.,
Chair of the Board of Trustees