During the July SA International Conference in St. Louis the Essay had the pleasure of meeting Helmut M. from Germany. Since 1989 Helmut has provided the translations of SA literature into German. During visits to Germany Roy K. stayed with Helmut in his home. He later stayed with Roy and Iris in Simi Valley, California. Helmut joined SA in August 1985 and his SA sobriety date is 13 December 1987. He began his use of 12 Step programs in 1979 in EA and found AA in August 1984. He remembers having four hours of clear thinking when drunk on alcohol and 16 hours of suffering after. He began to experience the miracles of recovery after stopping drinking. It was like he had a new job when starting anew in sobriety.
The first German SA group Anonyme Sexaholiker (AS) formed in 1984 in Karlsruhe. That group translated the “Brown Book” of SA in 1984-86. On August 11th, 1985 Detef and Ursula, a married SA-S-Anon couple from Karlsruhe, conducted an information meeting in Bochum and Helmut identified the first time he heard the story of Detef. He regularly attends meetings on Monday with SA in Bochum and on Friday with AA in Recklinghausen. Helmut has attended the Bochum meeting for thirty-three years. Helmut met Roy K. at the end of 1985 – when Roy K. gave a seminar in the Bad Herrenalb Clinic of Dr. Walter Lechler. Dr. Lechler co-wrote a book about recovering from sexual addiction with Jackie Lair, wife of Jess L., titled Von Mir Aus Nennt Es Wahnsinn (I Call It Insanity).
On a work trip in 1987 Helmut traveled to Seattle and after that spent a week with Roy K. in Simi Valley, California. There he received a copy of Jess L.’s book on How To Have A Perfect Marriage. The same year Roy K. visited the German SA-fellowship during the fall convention and stayed for a couple of days with his family in Recklinghausen. In the years thereafter he visited Roy K. several times in Simi Valley, the last time in February 2009.
Helmut is currently Chair of the Literature Committee of the German SA fellowship. He began translating the SA “Twenty Questions” brochure and Sexaholics Anonymous, the White Book in 1989. The German language White Book is now in its 8th printing. Together with a team of SA fellows he translated Step Into Action 2015 into German and in 2017 Practical Recovery Tools. He says our new meditation book The Real Connection will be the next German language book.
Helmut believes strongly that we are all volunteers in SA and need to trust each other that we are doing our best. His over thirty years of service to AS* and SA is deeply appreciated.
*Anonyme Sexaholiker
