Workaholics Anonymous
Encyclopedia
Workaholics Anonymous is a twelve-step program
for people identifying themselves as "powerless over compulsive work, worry, or activity" including, but not limited to, workaholic
s–including overworkers and those who suffer from unmanageable procrastination
or work aversion. Anybody with a desire to stop working compulsively is welcome at a WA meeting. Unmanageability can include compulsive work in housework, hobbies, fitness, or volunteering as well as in paid work. Anyone with a problematic relationship with work is welcomed. Although this maybe an insult to many people suffering from addictions, Workaholics Anonymous is considered an effective program for those who need it's help.
In 1983, one of the first formal efforts to create a fellowship around work addiction recovery began in New York when a corporate financial planner
and a school teacher met. They formed Workaholics Anonymous to stop working compulsively themselves and to help others who suffered from the disease of workaholism
. In their first meetings, spouses joined them and in retrospect were the first Work-Anon group, seeking recovery for family and friends of workaholics.
Workaholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of over fifty in-person, phone, and online meetings with over an estimated thousand active members. WA's World Service Office has a Menlo Park central address. WA has developed its own literature, most notably the Workaholics Anonymous Book of Recovery, but also uses the Alcoholics Anonymous
(AA) books Alcoholics Anonymous and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.
s) and as a process addiction (to compulsively doing or avoiding work). WA further defines compulsive working as a progressive, addictive illness. Much like AA's position on alcoholism
, WA believes compulsive working is chronic and done in an effort to alleviate psychological stress
.
To help potential members decide whether or not they need the program, WA provides a questionnaire, asking things like "Do you get more excited about work than about family or anything else?" Answering "yes" to three or more of these questions is considered a good indication of problems with which WA may be able to assist.
of Alcoholics Anonymous. Small changes have been made to make these applicable to compulsive working, but such adaptation has been minimal. To take the Twelve Steps and practice the Twelve Traditions, WA program literature recommends using fifteen "Tools of Recovery." These include Listening, Prioritizing, Substituting, Underscheduling, Playing, Concentrating, Pacing, Relaxing, Accepting, Asking, Meetings, Telephoning, Balancing, Serving, and Living in the Now. These tools are considered critical to obtaining and maintaining abstinence. WA literature also refers to the "Principles of Recovery" which include Abstinence, Sponsorship, Writing, Action Plan, Humor, Time Out, Nurturing, Literature, Anonymity, The Twelve Steps, and Meditation.
Meetings offer a consensual validation
and serve to diminish feelings of guilt
and shame
. A sponsor provides guidance through the WA program and support.
Twelve-step program
A Twelve-Step Program is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems...
for people identifying themselves as "powerless over compulsive work, worry, or activity" including, but not limited to, workaholic
Workaholic
A workaholic is a person who is addicted to work.The term generally implies that the person enjoys their work; it can also imply that they simply feel compelled to do it...
s–including overworkers and those who suffer from unmanageable procrastination
Procrastination
In psychology, procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time...
or work aversion. Anybody with a desire to stop working compulsively is welcome at a WA meeting. Unmanageability can include compulsive work in housework, hobbies, fitness, or volunteering as well as in paid work. Anyone with a problematic relationship with work is welcomed. Although this maybe an insult to many people suffering from addictions, Workaholics Anonymous is considered an effective program for those who need it's help.
In 1983, one of the first formal efforts to create a fellowship around work addiction recovery began in New York when a corporate financial planner
Financial planner
A financial planner or personal financial planner is a practicing professional who helps people deal with various personal financial issues through proper planning, which includes: cash flow management, education planning, retirement planning, investment planning, risk management and insurance...
and a school teacher met. They formed Workaholics Anonymous to stop working compulsively themselves and to help others who suffered from the disease of workaholism
Workaholic
A workaholic is a person who is addicted to work.The term generally implies that the person enjoys their work; it can also imply that they simply feel compelled to do it...
. In their first meetings, spouses joined them and in retrospect were the first Work-Anon group, seeking recovery for family and friends of workaholics.
Workaholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of over fifty in-person, phone, and online meetings with over an estimated thousand active members. WA's World Service Office has a Menlo Park central address. WA has developed its own literature, most notably the Workaholics Anonymous Book of Recovery, but also uses the Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
(AA) books Alcoholics Anonymous and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.
Definitions
WA defines workaholism by signposts and characteristics, as both a substance addiction (to adrenaline and other stress hormoneStress hormone
Stress hormones such as cortisol, GH and norepinephrine are released at periods of high stress. The hormone regulating system is known as the endocrine system...
s) and as a process addiction (to compulsively doing or avoiding work). WA further defines compulsive working as a progressive, addictive illness. Much like AA's position on alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, WA believes compulsive working is chronic and done in an effort to alleviate psychological stress
Stress (medicine)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
.
To help potential members decide whether or not they need the program, WA provides a questionnaire, asking things like "Do you get more excited about work than about family or anything else?" Answering "yes" to three or more of these questions is considered a good indication of problems with which WA may be able to assist.
Recovery tools and strategies
The WA program is based on the Twelve Steps and Twelve TraditionsTwelve Traditions
The Twelve Traditions of twelve-step programs provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose are addressed in the Traditions...
of Alcoholics Anonymous. Small changes have been made to make these applicable to compulsive working, but such adaptation has been minimal. To take the Twelve Steps and practice the Twelve Traditions, WA program literature recommends using fifteen "Tools of Recovery." These include Listening, Prioritizing, Substituting, Underscheduling, Playing, Concentrating, Pacing, Relaxing, Accepting, Asking, Meetings, Telephoning, Balancing, Serving, and Living in the Now. These tools are considered critical to obtaining and maintaining abstinence. WA literature also refers to the "Principles of Recovery" which include Abstinence, Sponsorship, Writing, Action Plan, Humor, Time Out, Nurturing, Literature, Anonymity, The Twelve Steps, and Meditation.
Meetings offer a consensual validation
Compliance (psychology)
Compliance refers to a response — specifically, a submission — made in reaction to a request. The request may be explicit or implicit . The target may or may not recognize that he or she is being urged to act in a particular way.Social psychology is centered on the idea of social influence...
and serve to diminish feelings of guilt
Guilt
Guilt is the state of being responsible for the commission of an offense. It is also a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes—accurately or not—that he or she has violated a moral standard, and bears significant responsibility for that...
and shame
Shame
Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....
. A sponsor provides guidance through the WA program and support.