Tools of Recovery
Live and Let Live
It is to be expected that from time to time, you will feel irritated with people both in and out of SAA. You may not agree with how they conduct their program or how they run a meeting. …
Living Through the Discomfort of Withdrawal
If you become abstinent from addictive sexual behavior, you may experience withdrawal, just as you would from alcohol or any addictive drug. Withdrawal is not a metaphor. It is a physiological phenomenon with emotional and mental components….
Looking at Consequences
One of the hallmarks of the addictive personality is denial, even in the face of overwhelming facts. Not one of us comes into SAA without some degree of unmanageability in our lives. …
Meditation
Most sex addicts with long-term abstinence report that their recovery is strengthened by a daily meditation practice. It can take many different forms. …
One Day at a Time
Recovery from sex addiction rarely happens overnight. It takes patience – a quality often in short supply for us. Imagining that we have to find the courage to face abstinence from sexual behaviors for indefinite amounts of time can feel overwhelming….
Outer Circle Activities
Ultimately, the purpose of SAA is to have a good life. This is what the Outer Circle is all about. Its scope is vast and touches every aspect of our lives. Here, we focus on one aspect of the Outer Circle — developing healthy activities….
Outside Resources
At various times, all of us have made use of professionals outside of SAA. We have seen therapists, doctors, dentists, lawyers, financial advisors, vocational counselors, and many others….
Prayer
Prayer provides a time for communing with our Higher Power. Prayers may come from any tradition, be self-created, or simply be a spontaneous conversation with the God of our own understanding. …
Progress, Not Perfection
Recovery can feel like a roller coaster. Sometimes it can seem like one step forward and two steps backward. Our progress may feel tentative. We may experience long plateaus in which it seems nothing is changing. If we relapse, we can feel terrible despair and hopelessness. …
Rigorous Honesty
Rigorous honesty demands much more than what we wish to believe about ourselves and what we imagine others might want to hear. It takes courage and faith to tell the truth, especially when deceit and denial were a significant part of our acting-out patterns. Rigorous honesty is an element of all aspects of our program. …