The 12 Steps of COSA

1.      We admitted we were powerless over compulsive sexual behavior -- that our lives had become unmanageable.

2.      Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves 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 God.

4.      Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5.      Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6.      Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7.      Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.

8.      Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became 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 and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11.    Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.

12.    Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all areas of our lives.

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The 12 Traditions of COSA

1.      Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon COSA unity.

2.      For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a loving God as expressed in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

3.      The only requirement for COSA membership is that our lives have been affected by compulsive sexual behavior. The members may call themselves a COSA group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.

4.      Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or COSA as a whole.

5.      Each group has but one primary purpose -- to carry its message to those who still suffer. We do this by practicing the Twelve Steps ourselves.

6.      A COSA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the COSA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

7.      Every COSA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

8.      COSA should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.

9.      COSA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

10.    COSA has no opinion on outside issues; hence the COSA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

11.    Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, television, and other public media of communication. We need guard with special care the anonymity of all Program members.

12.    Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.