created by The Big Book Collective for OA
A group made up of many OA members who have been active in using the Big Book to recover through the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous has created a workbook that should be very helpful for anyone who wants to recover. This book represents the consensus of all those OA members on how to work the Steps the Big Book way. Each chapter contains Big Book reading assignments, clarifications and explanations of what has been read, and suggestions for action. It provides a systematic method for working the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous. OA members throughout the world have used earlier drafts of this book to recover from compulsive eating. Many of these members made valuable suggestions that have been incorporated to produce this final version..
This Workbook is different from the book also available on this website, Big Book Approach for OA Members. This Workbook contains the consensus of a collective of recovered OA members on how to work the Twelve Steps using only the directions from the Big Book. This Workbook is a detailed and practical book which individuals and groups can use to recover, or to help sponsor others to recover. The other book is one person’s experience, and is more of an interpretation of the Big Book and AA’s history rather than a practical workbook.
This Workbook is available on Amazon as both a paperback and Kindle ebook. Search for Big Book Workbook for OA members on whatever Amazon website you might use. The book is sold on Amazon on a non-profit basis as part of the Big Book Collective’s Twelve Step work, and the cost of purchasing the book is considerably less than the cost of reproducing it on a local basis. Note: Amazon has temporarily discontinued the availability of this document. We are hoping that Amazon will restore it soon in both the Kindle and printed version. Please download the PDF version from this website in the meantime, and keep checking with Amazon.
You can also download a PDF version here.
You are welcome to download it and reproduce it under the conditions that it is not changed, that it is sold on a non-profit basis (except for OA group fundraising), and that it clearly states on the cover or title page that it is not OA-approved literature. You are also welcome to place it on your own website for a free download.
The Big Book Collective in OA does not believe that the Workbook should be considered literature at all. They do not see a distinction between inviting speakers to give their experience, strength, and hope, or listening to a recording of an OA speaker giving their experience, strength, and hope–something that is non-controversial at OA meetings–and reading something written by OA members giving their experience, strength, and hope. This Workbook simply represents the collective experience, strength, and hope, of many recovered OA members. We respectfully submit it to the membership of OA. We retain copyright only to protect this Workbook from being changed.
For further information, to make suggestions for improving this book, and to discuss methods by which this Workbook can be used within Overeaters Anonymous, please email the website administrator at info@oabigbook.info.