Twelve Traditions of Debtors Anonymous
- Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon D.A. unity.
- For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority–a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
- The only requirement for D.A. membership is a desire to stop incurring unsecured debt.
- Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or D.A. as a whole.
- Each group has but one primary purpose–to carry its message to the debtor who still suffers.
- A D.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the D.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
- Every D.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
- Debtors Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
- D.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
- Debtors Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the D.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
- Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
- Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.