Sample In-Person ITAA Meeting Script

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 ask that members 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 held in confidence. 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.

Will all who wish please join me in 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 they may express themselves in 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: ITAA should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.

Tradition 9: ITAA as such, ought never be organized, 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.

OPTIONAL READING : The chair or another fellow may select a reading from recovery literature in advance of the meeting. Reading from a physical copy of a book or off of a piece of paper is encouraged rather than reading from a tech device.

Would anyone like to suggest a topic for sharing?

Discussion is not limited to the topic(s) of the day. If you are new, you can introduce yourself and, if you feel comfortable, share what brought you to ITAA. There will be time at the end of the meeting to ask questions.

I will now read the Safety Statement:

In this meeting, we seek to provide a safe, non-judgmental environment for people to find strength, healing and recovery. We ask that members avoid cross talk, which is any commenting, interrupting, judging, advice giving, feedback, or dialogue in response to another member’s 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 any discrimination in relation to sex, gender identity, race, creed, religion or sexual orientation. We also suggest that members avoid describing specific digital content in detail such as the names of specific websites or apps. At any point during the meeting, anyone may raise their hand and say the phrase “Safety statement” and I will re-read the Safety statement. You may also reach out to me or another trusted member after the meeting if you feel uncomfortable for any reason.

Depending on the size of the meeting, the chair can set a time limit for shares and request a volunteer spiritual timekeeper.

And with that, the floor is open for shares. If you’d like to share, please raise your hand and introduce yourself.

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.

15 minutes before the end of the meeting: If you are new, please feel free to raise your hand now if you would like to share or if you have any questions.

5 minutes before the end of the meeting: Thank you all for being here and helping me stay off addictive internet and technology use one more day. 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 liked and leave the rest. 

The things you heard were spoken in confidence and 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 gossip or criticism of one another. Instead let the understanding, love and peace of the program grow in you one day at a time.

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!

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.

That’s the official end of the meeting—thank you for being here! Now is a good time to exchange phone numbers for outreach and for any newcomers who wish to ask questions.