Over the weekend of April 24-26, the 4th Australian SA conference was held at Camp Cottermouth, Canberra, the national capital. 28 members from around Australia attended. The theme for this year’s conference was “The Real Connection.”

The Friday meeting was a time where all members shared their stories and where each one was in their life’s journey. The following morning my wife and I shared on “The Real Connection in Marriage.” I shared how my sexaholism had turned me into a very disconnected, isolated rageaholic. The extent of my disconnection was such that I preferred to masturbate rather than have sex with my wife. I also talked about how I abused my wife in different ways in our marriage. As a result of working the Steps, going for meetings and staying connected with people in the program I felt more connected with myself and my family and God. My wife said that she lived in fear in the marriage. She shared her struggles of having to live with a sexaholic — the anger, the mood swings, the blame, the criticism and the fear. However, she added that when I started working the Steps she began to see real changes in me. She said that the fights began to decrease and the periods of silence became less and that I began to take responsibility for my actions and apologized quickly. Communication improved and honesty in the relationship helped usher in intimacy. This she added, attracted her to the program and led her to her own recovery.

Following our sharing there was time for questions and answers. Various members asked questions and some shared their experiences, too. This was the first time in SA Australia that a couple had shared about recovery and real connectedness in marriage. Remarking on this an old-timer commented “SA Australia has come of age.”

This conference also saw more members than last year with one or more years of sobriety. It was encouraging to see more people staying sober. One of the meetings had “My Favorite Step” as the topic. Some members shared how they were making good use of the conference call facility by connecting with up to five and six members from different states by phone.

There was a lot of fun and laughter as members got together and talked about their experiences — things that had bound them up with deep shame but as they had been in recovery, the power of shame had been broken and they were able to talk about it and laugh. The miracle of recovery! The conference also provided the opportunity for some members to do their First Step. It was a great time to catch up with old friends and to make new friends. Though everyone there was at different stages in their recovery we were all united in the fact that we were all powerless over lust and that we all shared a common solution. The conference was a meeting place for SA’s from all over Australia to meet each other, share our experience, strength and hope and hear others do the same as we “trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.”