Public Relations Handbook - Narcotics Anonymous

Attraction …The attractiveness of the behaviors and attitudes of individual NA members and thecollective appearance of our fellowship is essential in making our public relations effortsmore valuable. Attraction means that we function (as members and as groups) in waysthat naturally draw others to us. When members act in a way that is attractive,newcomers and potential members are more likely to get a positive impression of NA.We can also think about attraction as it relates to those—who may not beaddicts—who help addicts find NA. Our individual attitudes have an effect on ourcollective appearance. How do we help professionals become aware of what NA hasto offer? We cannot expect nonaddicts to fully understand addiction in the same waywe, as addicts, do. What we can do is illustrate the power of recovery within theNA program to those who are not members.What is likely to be attractive to the public and to professionals who interact withaddicts is reliable communication, responsibility, commitment, and behavior thatreflects recovery. We can demonstrate the reliability of NA by showing up andfulfilling the obligations we make, whether it is to return a telephone call forinformation about NA or supplying meeting directories at a public library. We canlearn to draw on the experiences of NA members to fulfill the commitments wemake to professionals. In the event that something prevents us from our keeping anappointment, we can ask a fellow member to fulfill our commitment for us and notifythe person with whom we have the commitment to let them know someone elsewill be coming in our place. We can also maintain good communication within ourcommittee by staying in contact with the committee chairperson. We need otherNA members to be truly successful in building and maintaining relationships with thepublic. Cooperation and collaboration in our areas and committees can help usprovide an attractive message of recovery to the public.… Rather than promotionWhen thinking about the difference between promotion and attraction, it may behelpful to think about the difference between informing the public about NA andinsisting that NA is better than any other recovery program. The essay on the EleventhTradition in It Works: How and Why describes promotion as “fanfare, overblown claims,[and] celebrity endorsements.” Informing the public that we are a credible program ofrecovery is a principled action, whereas comparing NA to other programs orapproaches, offering recovery incentives, or making claims about our effectiveness can allbe considered promotion. The only promise we make is the opportunity for addicts toexperience freedom from active addiction; guaranteeing any other outcome ispromotion.Promoting Narcotics Anonymous doesn’t need to be an option for us because theprogram speaks for itself when we humbly and honestly share how NA is working inour lives. Consistently providing services to the community and to professionals,letting the public know about NA and what the NA program has to offer is a way forour service efforts to make our program more attractive to the public and topotential members.As outlined in the essay on Tradition Eight in It Works: How and Why, we perform ourservice work energetically, and we seek to carry the message of recovery throughoutour cities, towns, and villages. We take vigorous steps to attract still-suffering addicts toour program. We have faith in the effectiveness of our fellowship. We know that NAworks because we have experienced it working in our own lives. We know that anyaddict seeking recovery in NA can find the same freedom we have found.October 2006 | PR Handbook | 11