“Pero no quiero compartir eso …” “¡Entonces no te recuperarás!” Esa fue la respuesta de mi padrino a la mayoría de los temores que experimento. No puedo estar sobrio en aislamiento. Tampoco puedo conseguirlo si no lo dejo de estar.

This morning in the hybride Manchester, US “Not a Glum Lot meeting,” we read the first story “I’m a Sexaholic” from Member Stories 2007. The text from The Real Connection today was entitled “Hidden Desires” and talked about riding a motorcycle too close to the edge of the Grand Canyon.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share our experience of working with therapists, counselors, the church, and others. It has been quite a journey since we Nairobi members began meeting in our venue nine years ago. It is a room at a church; during weekdays, the room is used as a gym.

This is Kathie S., sexaholic, about the Scottish convention, which I attended last weekend for the first time. I appreciated receiving the schedule well in advance, which helped me to feel less afraid of the unknown, indicating many old timers speaking, with much helpful experience.

In this time of year, Sexaholics Anonymous casts a glance into the future and asks “What do we need to fulfill our primary purpose? How can we best support the ever-growing needs of the fellowship worldwide?” Part of that planning is to create a financial budget for the next year.

SA Belgium was set up by members who had ample experience in AA and Al-Anon in working with a specific kind of professional: journalists. Our country doesn’t have the sensation-driven media-culture of some other countries, which makes for a safe and rewarding experience of cooperation, all in the spirit of the 11th Tradition.

The Support for Professionals (SIP) committee (formerly H&I-Hospitals and Institutions) was recently renamed to reflect what we have really functioned as for the past seven years. We abandoned the former name because we now aim to more fully support the mental health community at large

Did you know that SA has a produced 30-second Public Service Announcement and that you can get it played on your local television station? If we’ve piqued your curiosity, read on!

I remember my first contact with non-sexaholics who helped us. We got to know them at an AA open meeting. They were Brano and Marianka, two young and enthusiastic people who were interested in discovering why certain young people are unable to establish healthy relationships.

I have to admit it. I spent a lot of my life searching for a solution. I used to think that I am drowning in a well, and I must find a solution in that well. But that all has changed now. After joining SA, I came to learn that I was looking for a solution in the mud of the problem! I am grateful to God that after I have joined the program, I simply did not leave and run away! I had a feeling, which I wasn’t sure about, but it said “stay in the program”.

In my sponsorship lineage, we work the Traditions after the Steps. Based on what others have taught me and what I have experienced, I put together the following handout in which I try to boil down each Tradition to a word for phrase that best expresses the principle it represents followed by inventory questions to guide my application of the Tradition.

“I swear, this is it. This is the final straw. The last time I’m giving in to this disgusting, awful habit. The last time I’m degrading myself and letting down the people I love. I’m done.” Those were the thoughts playing in my head as I pondered the weight of that in which I had just indulged. Shame and inferiority swept over me in waves, leaving me desperate for some glimpse of rescue.

The theme for the December edition of ESSAY is “Fun in Recovery.”

A good deal of us came in through professionals of various kinds, whether they were therapists, helpline workers, psychiatrists, life coaches, or clergy members. The AA Big Book gives a clear recommendation not to disregard human health measures: “God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds.

Dear ESSAY, thank you for the wonderful suprise I received in the August edition on The Slogans. On p. 20 I unexpectedly found an article written by my sponsor with a picture of my cat “Milton” and an embroidery work I had sent her when I had been working on it.

Discussion Topic: How do I and my local fellowship cooperate with professionals?

I first heard about prison meetings from a member who started prison contact through the Gideon Society in Georgia. He told me that I would have to take a course in order to qualify to enter prisons. I then heard from a prison chaplain who was running a number of recovery programs that he would be interested in running an SA program too.

Joe was an SA member who lived some distance away from the nearest meeting and hardly ever got a chance to go. He had a few months’ sobriety, and his sponsor was very encouraging, giving him lots of advice. So Joe decided to start a meeting nearby.

My job is to take care of a large property with an orchard, a garden, and a house. A few weeks ago, I found myself in a completely new situation I have never been in before.

Bishops, priests, and nuns throughout the Catholic Church are becoming increasingly aware of SA and supportive of recommending that parishioners with lust addiction contact the program for help. The Europe and Middle East Region (EMER) has recently been experiencing the fruit of focusing special attention on this outreach for the past several years and promoting the sharing of experience among its fifteen intergroups.