ABSTRACT
The co-dependent, the process addict, is a social role, defined by a set of obligations and privileges. All Co-Dependent's Anonymous (CoDA) members were at one time newcomers. They become members, and become co-dependents, through a process of conversion. CoDA rituals proceed to member testimonials, which are somewhat more casual modes of symbolic observance. Byt these, too, are still highly conventionalized uses of the discourse, socially organizing the members and prospective members into three general "meeting roles": speakers, sharers, and listeners. CoDA's meeting roles provide a rough chronology of the passage from newcomer to convert. Newcomers begin by listening, being systematically and repeatedly exposed to a general outline for what conversion to CoDA means and learning, through the example of others, how to frame their own life stories as co-dependents. The reality that CoDA rituals symbolically affirm and enact is, at bottom, a liberation psychotherapy reality. The selves they create are in essence the selves of a liberation psychotherapy world.
