Reflection from February 10, Today
When speaking with friends in the program, we must always remember to protect the information they share with us.
By the same token, we need not hesitate
to remind them of our need for privacy. It
is so easy for us to speak of intimate details with EA friends that anyone cansometimes forget he or she is expected
to remain silent. There are many advantages to having these free and easy
conversations: we learn to be honest, wedo not have to worry about ridicule orcondemnation, and we have the opportunity to spot self-deception.

The Twelve Steps
1. We admitted we were powerless over ouremotions — that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater thanourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives
over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventoryof ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to anotherhuman being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove allthese defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, andbecame willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever
possible, except when to do so would injure
them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory andwhen we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as weunderstood Him, praying only for knowledgeof His will for us and the power to carry thatout.

Confidentiality in EA

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the resultof these steps, we tried to carry this message,
and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
P.O. Box 4245
St. Paul, MN 55104-0245©2020 Emotions Anonymous International —Item #86
EA-approved literature. This pamphlet may be
reproduced for free distribution.

www.emotionsanonymous.org
651-647-9712

Anonymity and confidentiality are someof the greatest gifts of the EA fellowship.
Helpful Concept # 12 tells us that, “Partof the beauty and wonder of the EA
program is that at meetings we can say
anything and know its stays there.
Anything we hear at a meeting, on thetelephone, or from another member isconfidential and is not to be repeated toanyone—EA members, mates, families,relatives or friends.”
Tradition #12 tells us that, “Anonymity is
the spiritual foundation of our
traditions, ever reminding us to placeprinciples before personalities.”

And Concept #3 points out, “We respect
anonymity, no questions are asked. We
aim for an atmosphere of love andacceptance. We do not care who you
are or what you have done. You arewelcome.”
These principles are essential for
fostering an atmosphere of trust andopenness at our meetings. By adheringto these statements, we allow members
to express their true feelings without
the worry that someone outside theprogram may find out something we
don’t choose to share outside an EA
meeting.

This does not rule out telling others that
we are part of the EA program if wechoose to. That is a personal decisionthat we alone can make. If we see
someone hurting and believe that theEA program might be of help to them,
we may choose to tell them that we area part of a group—or we may simply tellthem that we know about the EA
program and want to share that
information, keeping our membershipprivate.
Anonymity and confidentiality do notmean that the program is a secret. Itmeans we alone have the choice toshare our involvement in the EA
fellowship with others, free of the fearthat someone else may ‘out’ us without
our permission.
Still, we must balance confidentiality
with concerns about safety. The safety
of EA members is our top priority.
Healthy conversation is only possible
when people feel safe from abuse anddon’t witness violent language orthreats. For this reason, we prohibit
threats of violence in any version of an
EA gathering or meeting. Threats
include statements made with theintent to harass, instill fear, or inflict

physical harm on another person, or toinflict physical harm upon yourself.
Also, if someone shares such a threat ofharm to themselves or others, theprogram allows us to take action if wechoose. Our principles of anonymity andconfidentiality do not prevent EA
members from reporting such threats tothe appropriate authorities. When indoubt, call 911.
The decision whether or not to report
information that may pose a threat to
public safety is a personal one that willbe left to individual EA members andtheir Higher Power. Someone in such asituation where they are wondering
about whether or not to report
something may also choose to consult asponsor or fifth-step person, if available.
This careful, mindful approach todeciding whether or not to report acredible threat of harm allows us to put
into practice several of the 12 Principlesof the EA program. These include
honesty; hope; faith; courage; integrity;
justice and service.