Emotions Anonymous

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Marion F. · 1966 · St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

What it is

Emotions Anonymous is a mutual-aid fellowship, not a therapy. It is a peer-run, non-facilitated Twelve-Step programme, adapted with permission from Alcoholics Anonymous, for anyone with emotional difficulties who wants to become emotionally well. EA itself states it is not a medical, psychiatric or…

Format

• EA has no clinical phases, session count or graduation. It is open-ended, weekly, and lifelong for those who choose to stay. What follows is (a) the structure EA publishes and (b) a clinician's referral framework.
• Format: usually one meeting per week, about an hour [duration: uncertain, not stated in sources], in person, by phone, Zoom or online chat. First names only; confidential; free, with voluntary donations (Tradition 7).

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• reading replacing attendance or contact with others.
• slogans used to shut down feelings or to dismiss real problems.
• passive listening that never moves to contact; privacy at home.
• if no sponsor is available, co-sponsorship or phone contacts are alternatives.
• Step work that increases shame, or amends that endanger the client (Section 5).

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.