CPC

Cooperation with the Professional Community  “C. P. C.”

Purpose

The “Cooperation with the Professional Community” Committee Is responsible for providing information about A. A. to the professionals that have contact with alcoholics through their profession. Information is provided about what A. A. does and does not do. The committee members are available to contact and discuss with local professionals (in this case, WWA 72 District 7), how to effectively cooperate so that
A. A. can carry the message to the still suffering alcoholic.

By action of the General Service Board, January 1970, the trustees’ Committee on Cooperation With the Professional Community (C.P.C) – a spin off from the Public Information Committee – was developed. A similar Conference committee was formed the following year. Since that time, AA members in local areas have been responding to local need by establishing C.P.C. committees.

A. A. is considered by many professionals to be a valuable resource for alcoholics who want help. When there is a good working relationship between A. A. members in the community and paid alcoholism workers, the sick alcoholic is the winner – he or she gets the help needed from both.

We are not in competition with these non A. A.’s; we have our separate functions. A. A. is not in the business of education, research, medicine, counseling, treatment, prevention, or funding. We simply have a message to carry about a program of recovery for alcoholics – a program that works for hundreds of thousands who want it.

The professional can help the alcoholic want it – by education, counseling, and rehabilitative treatment – and can also be of aid through making the community aware of and care about the millions still suffering from the progressive illness of alcoholism.

Members of this committee provide information about A. A. to those who have contact with alcoholics through their profession. This group includes health care professionals, Judges, educators, members of the clergy, lawyers, social workers, union leaders, and industrial managers, as well as those working in the field of alcoholism. Information is provided about where we are, what we are, what we can do, and what we cannot do.

GETTING STARTED

One of the best ways to start your C.P.C. Twelfth Step work is to read the C.P.C. Workbook, which is a bounty of information gathered from A.A.’s past experience in C.P.C. work.

C.P.C. KIT AND PAMPHLETS

The C.P.C. Kit contains information on all aspects of C.P.C. service, including the C.P.C. Workbook. The Kit also includes a history of C.P.C. since its beginnings, Guidelines, literature catalog & order form, pamphlets and copies of Box 4-5-9 (which may include a section on C.P.C. news) and About A. A., our newsletter for professionals along with a sample sign-up card. It is suggested that the basic “text” for C.P.C. committee members is the Conference approved pamphlet…”How A. A. Members Cooperate With Professionals.” Most C.P.C. committees have found it helpful for each member to have a personal copy of the Cooperation With the Professional Community Workbook. GSO. (the General Service Office) furnishes a C.P.C. Kit to the area committee chairperson at no charge. Additional Kits and Workbooks may be purchased. A. A. ® Guidelines from GSO., Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163 A. A. Guidelines are compiled from the shared experience of A. A. members in various service areas. They also reflect guidance given through the Twelve Traditions and the General Service Conference (U.S. and Canada). In keeping with our Tradition of autonomy, except in matters affecting other groups or A. A. as a whole, most decisions are made by the group conscience of the members involved. The purpose of these Guidelines is to assist in reaching an informed group conscience. Cooperation With the Professional Community

C.P.C. IN ACTION

One suggestion is to work with one group of professionals at a time. When a list of professionals has been compiled, members of the C.P.C. committee would make an initial contact (by letter, phone or face-to-face), and offer to come and talk about what A. A. can and cannot do. You might also offer to take a professional or student to an open A. A. meeting in your area or provide A. A. literature describing our A. A. program of recovery, stressing our eagerness to act as a resource to the recovering alcoholic.

PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES

The District 7 C.P.C. committee may request to be placed on the mailing list with community, state or area professional agencies. Specific suggestions and information about exhibiting at professional meetings is available from GSO.

PRESENTATIONS

See the C.P.C. Workbook for suggestions on presentations you might give in your community. Most C.P.C. committee members will be informed on A. A. and its history, and are able to give an accurate and positive impression of Alcoholics Anonymous. We stress our primary purpose, and Traditions of non affiliation, self-support and anonymity.

LITERATURE

The Conference-approved Literature and Other Service Material catalog has a section on C.P.C. specific items. There is also a catalog for Special Needs, and much of the literature is also available in Spanish and French.

BASIC C.P.C. LITERATURE

For C.P.C. Committee Members
Speaking at Non- A. A. Meetings, How A. A. Members Cooperate. . . C.P.C. Workbook, A Member’s-Eye View of A. A,. Understanding Anonymity, Let’s Be Friendly With Our Friends Information on Alcoholics Anonymous Three Talks to Medical Societies by Bill W. A.A. Membership Survey

For Professionals
Understanding Anonymity
Let’s Be Friendly With Our Friends
If You Are a Professional. . . A. A. as a Resource for the Members of the Clergy Ask About A. A.
Health Care Professional  — Problems Other Than Alcohol A. A.
Membership Survey
Is There an Alcoholic in the Workplace?
A Message to Correctional
This Is A. A.
Facilities Professionals
A. A. In Your Community
Information on Alcoholics Anonymous

About AA, a Newsletter for Professionals

The information on these pages originally appeared in About AA, a free newsletter for professionals. To subscribe, please call the CPC Desk, General Service Office: (212) 870-3107; write to CPC Desk, Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163; or visit the AA World Services web site.

Please join us to get involved with this Committee on the Second Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the basement of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, W. 13th & Franklin, Vancouver, Washington. (Map)

For more information, or if you are a professional looking for an AA Presentation,

Contact the CPC Committee Chair