Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) is a twelve-step program for people who share a common desire to develop functional and healthy relationships.[1][2][3] Co-Dependents Anonymous was founded by Ken and Mary Richardson and the first CoDA meeting attended by 30 people was held October 22, 1986 in Phoenix, Arizona.[3][4] Within four weeks there were 100 people and before the year was up there were 120 groups.[5] CoDA held its first National Service Conference the next year with 29 representatives from seven states.[3]: 567 [5] CoDA has stabilized at about a thousand meetings in the US, and with meetings active in 60 other countries and dozens online that can be reached at www.coda.org.[6]
^ abIrving, Leslie (1999). Codependent Forevermore, The Invention of Self in a Twelve Step Group. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 30. ISBN0-226-38471-3.