Sample In-Person ITAA Meeting Script – Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous

A printable version of this script can be found here.

All directions for the chair are italicized in blue and not meant to be read aloud.

Welcome to our meeting of Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous. This meeting is 60 minutes long.

We start the meeting by going around the room and introducing ourselves by first name only. We welcome any newcomers who are with us today, and if you’d like, you may indicate whether this is one of your first meetings when introducing yourself. I will start: “My name is ______ , and I am an Internet and technology addict.

Each member introduces themselves.

Welcome everyone. We encourage any newcomers to stick around after the meeting, as a number of us will be available to help answer any questions you may have, and we recommend attending six meetings in a short time frame to decide whether ITAA may be helpful for you. We’re glad you’re here.

At this time, we ask that members turn off their phones or put their phones on silent, and commit to listening to one another.

Anonymity is an important principle of the ITAA Program. Everything that is said here in the group meeting, and member-to-member, must be kept confidential. Only in this way can we feel free to say what is in our minds and hearts, for this is how we help one another in ITAA.

Those who wish may now join me in saying the Serenity Prayer:

Higher Power, Grant me The Serenity
to Accept the things I cannot Change,
the Courage to Change the things I Can,
and the Wisdom to Know the Difference.

May I please have a volunteer to read our Mission Statement, and could someone else read the Twelve Steps?

Chair may pass around the script for other members to read the mission statement and the Steps.

Mission Statement

Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous is a fellowship of people who support each other in recovering from compulsive internet and technology use. ITAA is not affiliated with any political agenda, religion, or outside interests. Our single purpose is to abstain from compulsive internet and technology use and to help others find freedom from this addiction. We have no membership requirements beyond the desire to stop compulsive internet and technology use. Our groups share our collective experience and the principles that helped us. Each of us is free to try out or disregard the suggestions of the program and other members.

The Twelve Steps of ITAA

1. We admitted we were powerless over internet and technology—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 a Higher Power of our own understanding.

4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves.

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

6. Were entirely ready to have our Higher Power remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked our Higher Power to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all those we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to those we had harmed 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 practices such as prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with a Power greater than ourselves, praying only for knowledge of our Higher Power’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 internet and technology addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The chair now reads The Tradition of the Month that corresponds with the month on the calendar. For example, May is the fifth month of the year so we read the fifth tradition.

The Tradition of the Month:

Tradition 1: Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on ITAA unity.

Tradition 2: For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving Higher Power as may be expressed through our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

Tradition 3: The only requirement for ITAA membership is a desire to stop using internet and technology compulsively.

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

Tradition 5: Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the compulsive internet and technology user who still suffers.

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

Tradition 7: Every ITAA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

Tradition 8: While our service bodies may employ qualified workers, the act of one member helping another ought never be compensated, ensuring that ITAA remains forever nonprofessional.

Tradition 9: ITAA ought never be organized as a hierarchy, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

Tradition 10: ITAA has no opinion on outside issues, hence the ITAA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

Tradition 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.

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

[If newcomers are present, ask for a volunteer to read the following:]

About Sobriety

There is no universal definition of sobriety in ITAA. We each identify for ourselves the specific behaviors which trigger our addiction. We use the term bottom lines to describe the compulsive behaviors that once we start we can’t stop, and once we stop we can’t stay stopped. We abstain from our bottom lines. Middle lines are the behaviors and situations that could lead to a slip or a relapse. And top lines are positive activities that help us meet our needs in healthy, functional ways.

We work with experienced members to help discover what sobriety means for each of us as individuals. Rather than using for distraction, escape, or to numb our emotions, we seek to use technology as a tool for meeting our goals, living in alignment with our values, and developing flourishing lives.

[OPTIONAL FORMATS (CHOOSE ONE):

1. Topics: We’ll take 1-2 topics as suggested by the group. Would anyone like to suggest a topic?

2. Reading: We will select a short 5-10 minute reading from our Twelve-Step recovery library for reflection, as a prompt for sharing.

3. Lead share: Would anyone with stable sobriety as they define it like to volunteer to give a 5-10 minute lead share about their experience, strength, and hope in recovery?]

We will now move into the sharing part of the meeting. Sharing is not limited to the [topic(s) / reading / lead share]. If you are new, you can introduce yourself and, if you feel comfortable, share what brought you to ITAA. There will be time after the meeting to ask questions.

I will now read our guidelines for sharing:

In this meeting, we seek to provide a safe, non-judgmental environment for people to find strength, healing and recovery. If we relate to another member’s share, we are welcome to share along similar lines from our own experience, but we ask that members address the group as a whole and avoid ‘cross talk,’ which includes interrupting, criticism, feedback, or directly addressing another member during our share. Meetings are not a place to meet dating partners. Comments or behavior of a flirtatious, sexual, or aggressive nature directed towards other members are inappropriate, as is discrimination of any kind. We also suggest that members avoid describing specific digital content in detail such as the names of specific websites or apps.

*[Some ITAA meetings permit the names of websites and apps in discussion. Here is language you may use if your meeting would like to make this change: “You may mention the names of specific websites and apps, but please avoid describing specific digital content in detail.”]

If you feel uncomfortable or triggered by what someone else is sharing, you may reach out to me or any member you trust if you’d like a particular part of our guidelines for sharing to be reread to the group.

[For helpful information on how to respond to inappropriate behavior, please reference Safety in ITAA.]

Is there anybody who would be willing to volunteer as timekeeper?

[The chair can set a time limit for shares, usually 2-5 minutes with a 30-second warning depending on the number of members present.]

The floor is now open for shares. If you’d like to share, please unmute and introduce yourself. You may also raise your hand and introduce yourself.

[Members take turns sharing until there are 6-8 minutes left in the meeting. If there is a pause in the sharing the Chair may say, “Would anybody who hasn’t shared yet like to share?” and then pause for ~15 seconds before moving on.

Suggested options after the first round of shares:
– Opening the floor for 2nd shares.
– Reading from literature.
– Having 5 minutes of group meditation.
– A brief round of check-ins about how we’re feeling, a recent top line, or our plans to stay sober for the next 24 hours.]

Thank you all for being here and helping us all stay off addictive internet and technology use one day at a time!

[You may also thank anyone who did service during the meeting, such as the timekeeper.]

In closing, I would like to say that the opinions expressed here were strictly those of the person who gave them. Take what you like and leave the rest.

The things you heard here should be treated as confidential. Keep them within the walls of this room and the confines of your mind.

Talk to each other, reason things out with someone else, but let there be no criticism of one another. Instead let the understanding, love and peace of the program grow in you one day at a time.

If you are new, didn’t have a chance to share, or are struggling, please feel free to stay as a number of us are available to talk or answer any questions after the meeting ends.

Our 7th Tradition states that each ITAA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. We have no dues or fees, though we do have expenses. If you would like to make a donation there is a basket going around the room. We ask that you give both for your own recovery and the recovery of those around you. Please give what you can, but if you can’t give anything, please keep coming back! You are more important to us than your money!

This meeting holds monthly group consciences on ______. In addition, ITAA holds International Service Meetings once a month in which we discuss fellowship-wide issues and develop solutions to strengthen the growth of our community. All are encouraged to participate.

Are there any announcements for the good of ITAA?

Does anyone have recovery time that you’d like to mention and celebrate with the group today?

Carrying the message to the still-suffering addict is an essential part of our program of recovery. Sponsorship is an informal, voluntary relationship in which a more experienced member helps guide a newcomer through The Twelve Steps, which serve as the foundation of our long-term recovery. Members can also offer temporary sponsorship. A great way to connect with a potential sponsor is through outreach calls. We encourage you to reach out to members whose shares you resonated with today. There will be an opportunity after the meeting to exchange phone numbers.

Let’s have a moment of silence for the addicted internet and technology user who is still suffering……

Will all who wish please stand, form a circle, hold hands and join together to say the Serenity Prayer:

Higher Power, Grant me The Serenity
to Accept the things I cannot Change
the Courage to Change the things I Can
and the Wisdom to Know the Difference.

[Chair may say something like:] That’s the official end of the meeting—feel free to stick around for phone numbers, questions, and fellowship!

During the after-meeting, we encourage everyone to share the time fairly between all present, to share from the “I” perspective and not give feedback or advice without receiving permission first, and to refrain from actively encouraging the use of outside resources, though we may share freely about our own experiences and what has helped us.

[At this time, the chair may:

Invite anybody who’s available to receive outreach calls to make themselves known.
Encourage newcomers to ask questions.
Allow anyone to share who didn’t share during the meeting.]

Page last updated on July 20, 2025