Notes From Central Office
[The following are all responses received by the Central Office to the article “SA and Sexual Abuse” on page 20 of the October 1990 issue of Essay. We hope no response was omitted; the CO was in transition due to Nan’s leaving.—Ed.]
In but a few weeks it will be ten years from the time Box 300 was first opened (June of 1981) and that first wave of desperate letters started pouring in asking for help. When the Chicago conference rolls around in July, it will have been ten years from the historic meeting in our garage where SAs from over the U.S. joined together for the first time and came to one mind and spirit in formulating the principles of our SA Program.
My story is very similar to many I have read and heard in SA. I was sexually obsessive and compulsive for over 50 years. And my disease got progressively worse until I finally found myself living in a flop house hotel, losing my job, frequenting porno shops and flicks, and having lost my family and friends. In desperation, I called SA and got help.
As of February 1991, I started an SA group here in Blackwell. I am very grateful for the four members of SA at Wichita, KS for coming to Blackwell and helping me to get started. I am very grateful for SA and my recovery. I've been in recovery since June of 1988 when I found out I was a sexaholic and started attending SA.
Sorry for being so long in payment of the White Book—it is some heavy book. The group is going well. We have four regular members who are really working hard on their sobriety.
Our regular Friday meeting has been doing quite well in terms of attendance, and while we still do not boast of numbers we see in other fellowships with similar addictions, we feel our group has generated a level of intimacy and open honesty that most of us have never been exposed to in the past.
Our group fluctuates in numbers… Some move from the area, others seem to be unable to connect with the program and the life of recovery. At the present time we normally have six to ten at our meetings. These are the core group of those who “keep coming back” because the program is working for them.
As we enter into spring…we see continued new life in our SA groups. We have three meetings a week in Syracuse (all growing in numbers, praise be to God!) and have begun a meeting once a week in Binghamton, NY, 70 miles south of us. We have members with one, two, and three years of sobriety, and we are constantly scrutinizing our meaning of sobriety, and the quality of our recovery.
No matter how small your group, please notify Central Office with a contact name and a telephone number. This information will be used to help inquirers make contact with the group nearest to them. Thanks for your help.
