TeddysRule! (teddy bears) Readings & Materials
Information for "newcomers" (and the curious) on A.C.A. ACoA/DF About the various tools the A.C.A. program offers for recovery The characteristics of "Adult Children" The Twelve Steps of Adult Children Anonymous Readings and materials for individuals and groups (freebies too) Meeting lists and links to other A.C.A. and recovery sites A complete list the content you'll find here (try our search engine too) All about this WebSite (why, what, technical and legal stuff) Back to the TeddysRule! front door What's New on the TeddysRule! WebSite? Find out... What's New on the TeddysRule! WebSite? Find out...

TeddysRule! A.C.A. ACoA Resource Centre * Ressources d'EAA
Materials for Twelve-Step codependency recovery: readings, meeting signs, tips, certificates to download, newsletters, AA Big Book and a bibliography

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Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
("I walk down the street…")
An introduction to the topic and why it was included
Go directly to the topic (but miss out on the introduction)
A.C.A. Closing Affirmation (or "Prayer") An introduction to the topic and why it was included
Go directly to the topic (but miss out on the introduction)
The Serenity Prayer An introduction to the topic and why it was included
Go directly to the topic (but miss out on the introduction)
extract from "The Prophet"
by Kahlil Gibran
An introduction to the topic and why it was included
Go directly to the topic (but miss out on the introduction)
Just for Today An introduction to the topic and why it was included
Go directly to the topic (but miss out on the introduction)
What a self-help group can do for you (if you let it) An introduction to the topic and why it was included
Go directly to the topic (but miss out on the introduction)
"A Chit Chat" An introduction to the topic and why it was included
Go directly to the list of "A Chit Chat" issues on-line.
A.C.A. (Regular) Meeting Template An introduction to the topic and why it was included
Go directly to the topic (but miss out on the introduction)
The Big Book of A.A. (download) An introduction to the topic and why it was included
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Teddy Bear Certificates (download) An introduction to the topic and why it was included
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Custom Graphics (download) An introduction to the topic and why it was included
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Books Related to A.C.A. and Recovery (bibliography) An introduction to the topic and why it was included
Go directly to the topic (but miss out on the introduction)

An Adult Child Qualifies

An introduction to the topic and why it was included
Go directly to the reading

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I walk down the street…

In the ACA/ ACoA groups the site editor has attended over the years, this has been one of the most often cited pieces of literature. Portia Nelson's simple "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters" captures beautifully the stages we go through in approaching, and later working through our recovery.

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Closing Affirmation (Closing Prayer)

Some call it an affirmation and others a prayer, but for most members a key point in the meeting is the joining of hands at the closing. The message that we are not alone and that we can (and at times may need to) find and rely on strength outside ourselves is one of the main gifts that the program can bring to those who work it.

View the Closing Affirmation (or "Closing Prayer" now
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The Serenity Prayer

In recent years, this has become one of the best known and most often recited prayers in Western society. While in part, this speaks to the prevalence of Twelve-Step programs, much of its success lies in its simplicity and the pure request for help from our Higher Power that it contains.

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extract from "The Prophet"

Relationships are an inescapable theme in this program, whether they be with friends, our families and partners, our Higher Power or often most importantly ourselves and that part of us we call the "inner child". Some 75 years ago, the author Kahlil Gibran wrote poetically in his text "On Marriage" of how to avoid what today we would call "becoming enmeshed" with our partners in life.

View Gibran's "On Marriage" now
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Just for Today

Just for Today is a classic 12-step program reading that holds as true for A.C.A./ACoA as for the other recovery programs that went before it.

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What a Self-Help Group Can Do for You…

What a self-help group can do for you (if you let it) is a simple reading with a clear message. It's especially relevant if you're debating getting started on a program of recovery -or- when the going gets rough and you're looking for some encouragement in continuing what at times can seem to be an upwards climb.

View "What a Self-Help Group Can Do..."
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A Chit Chat

One bonus to working the program in Canada's National Capital Region is the monthly newsletter "A Chit Chat", edit by Paul B. We now have Paul's permission to offer this bulletin on-line and (thanks to a recent scanner repair), the list of back issues available is steadily growing. Check out what's available now by clicking on the button below!

View the list of "A Chit Chat" issues on-line.
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Meeting Template

Provided here is a template, or script, for a regular (discussion group) meeting of Adult Children Anonymous. Along with the other core readings provided on this site, this should1 be sufficient for an experienced member acting as chairperson to guide a complete meeting.

1. The readings available on-site should preferably be accompanied by longer readings on particular characteristics and steps to guide the small group discussions, which will hopefully be posted here in the future. In the absence of these, the first entries on the site's book list, under Texts (frequently) Read at Meetings, are the sources for most of this material.

n.b. While making basic meeting material accessible on the Web was a primary objective in creating this site, be aware that the template here presents one way- not the only way- of holding a meeting. This is better explained in the "Site Status" and "But we don't do it that way in our group…" parts of the Policies section.

As the site evolves, the editor's intent is to provide additional material of assistance to groups, including templates for other types of meetings and tools to simplify the logistics of keeping a group running smoothly. p.s. Special thanks to Gerry for keying in the initial text for this…

(as used by Ottawa's Monday Night "Courage to Change" Group)

View the meeting template now
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The Big Book

After coming to A.C.A. meetings for a while, you will unboubtedly hear of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, which forms the source and inspiration for that program. If you would like to find out more about this source, you can read the Big Book on-line; however, be aware that it's title is quite descriptive. If you are using Windows, a much simpler way is to view a special version of the second edition (provided below), which has been completely indexed and created as a Windows Help file (Windows Help files cannot be viewed through an Internet browser, but they work much in the same way, with "hyperlinks" between topics and an index).

n.b. The file below was obtained via the Alcoholics Anonymous Information for Ottawa area website, which is an unofficial site created (as this one), in the interests of service following the Twelfth Step; it originated with the "Serenity BBS". "It is derived from the second edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, originally copyright and published in hardback by ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS ® WORLD SERVICES, INC. The file comprises the first 164 pages of the Big Book, plus Doctor Bob's Nightmare, and included also are the forewords, and the appendices, which were added for the second edition. Thus, for practical purposes, this is a third edition, less the preface and stories."

Once you have downloaded the file, extract the files (with WinZip or a similar utility) to a local folder on your PC and then, from Windows Explorer, double-click on the "bigbook.hlp" file to open it. If you wish, you can create a shortcut from your desktop or Start menu and specify the "bigbook.ico" file as the icon to use. Please also note the information in the "readme.txt" and "copyrite.txt" files which will also be extracted to your destination folder.

Download an evaluation version of WinZip Download WinZip
(evaluation version)
Download the Big Book (193k)
Download
the Big Book (193k)
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Teddy Bear Certificates

teddy bear If you've arrived here with no idea where the teddy bears fit into all this, please take a look at the description of "Teddy Bear nights" provided in the Tools of the A.C.A. Program section first. However, even in the absence of teddy bears, the certificates offered here, which mark a member's completion of one of more years of the A.C.A. program, may be of some use to your own group.

The three images below are "thumbnails", whick link to the real, full-size images provided on separate pages (the latter take a few moments to load as they have been optimized for printing a crisp colour image on a letter-sized (8½" x 11") sheet of paper. The certificates have been made generic, so that you can write in (or add, with a graphics program), your own group's name. If you click on one of the full-sized images that you'd like to use, you'll get further instructions on downloading and use. Enjoy!


Certificate 1 - Click for full size Certificate 1 (sideways) - Click for full size Certificate 2 - Click for full size
Version 1a
(7.5" x 9.8")
Version 1b
(9.8" x 7.5")
Version 2
(7.5" x 10")

bullet Instructions, ideas and more on certificates…
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Graphics

A.A.A. meets in this room! (thumbnail) ACoA plate  (thumbnail) The majority of the graphics on the TeddysRule! site are original material (the remainder were drawn from public domain sources), created and provided both to brighten things up a bit and to be reused, in the interests of recovery, by its visitors. Please do not use any of these images in a manner derogatory to this site or to any of the other organizations mentioned here.

With this version of the site, the additional images provided on the graphics page include a variety of A.C.C./ACoA meeting signs and the program's initials in a "brass" nameplate format. To download any of these (as for the other images on the site), right-click on the graphic in Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator and select "Save Image…".


View the graphics page now
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Related Books

[In gathering the information for this page, I must confess to remembering an old joke about the A.C.A. who, upon dying and going to heaven (where else?) was presented with a choice of two doors: one marked "Eternal Happiness" and the other marked "Books on Finding Eternal Happiness". It's anyone's guess as to which one they chose (or whether they're still there trying to decide…
The moral: "Don't just read - go to a meeting"].

Joking aside, one dimension of the "discovery" phase of recovery comes from our readings, whether they be in group or on our own. The list of related books provided here is part bibliography, part inventory of the books for loan you might find at an A.C.A. meeting and part cross-section of the site editor's own holdings of recovery books (or at least the remaining ones that haven't been given away to other members or persons contemplating recovery). Some listings are accompanied by comments by way of explanation, or suggestion as to where to start; however, be selective in choosing and make up your own mind. Everyone's path is unique.

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bullet An Adult Child Qualifies


During the opening of our meetings, each member introduces themselves and "qualifies" ("to 'qualify' means that one identifies with the characteristics of the adult child, the same way an alcoholic identifies with the disease of alcoholism" - from ACA meeting text - Members Qualify). This reading contains a touching description by Sinéad O'Connor, an entertainer who struggled with co-dependency issues, of "the problem" as it affected her own life, along with her spoken version of the Serenity Prayer.

View this reading now
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Please submit all questions and comments to teddysruleinfo@netscape.net