Daily Reprieve Group Meeting Format
My name is _______, and I am a sex addict. Welcome to this meeting of the Daily Reprieve Group of Sex Addicts Anonymous. This is a men's meeting. Sex Addicts Anonymous is a Twelve Step, Twelve Tradition fellowship based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. The only qualification for SAA membership is a desire to stop addictive sexual behavior. SAA is supported entirely through contributions of its membership and is free to all who need it. Because of the nature of our addiction, we need to protect with special care the anonymity of every SAA member. Are there any newcomers attending their first meeting tonight? Please identify yourself, first name only. Welcome.
Our sex addiction distorts our very nature. It is said that we are made in God's image. Consider, then, that in our sexuality our Creator has shared with us his greatest power: through an act of love we create life. Our masculinity, moreover, tells us who in large part we are. Our love-making is designed to be a powerful bond that nourishes a couple emotionally and spiritually, a safe harbor for our most tender feelings. We sex addicts, however, have gone off the tracks somewhere. We use our sexuality as a drug to numb painful feelings; we make our sexuality a barrier to intimacy. The good news is that there is recovery, and through recovery we can have lives filled with joy. Our experience is that working the twelve steps with a sponsor, regularly attending meetings with other sex addicts and reaching out with a hand of comfort and support to our fellows in this program who are suffering is an infallible path to that joy.
We follow the twelve steps and twelve traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous and await the fulfillment of their promises. At this time, let us read How It Works, the traditions and the promises.
Thank you. Let us identify ourselves, first names only. Newcomers need not admit to a sexual addiction. In this group we do not, in introducing ourselves, give our sobriety date.
Remember that we avoid crosstalk at our meetings. Crosstalk is advice giving, criticizing, interrupting, singling out, lecturing or responding directly to another member. We also avoid double-dipping – that is, speaking twice in a meeting. Here we share our experience, strength and hope and do not dwell on the particulars of our disease. One should not mistake our meetings for group therapy; we have no therapeutic expertise. We have only a spiritual remedy for a spiritual disorder.
The AA Big Book tells us that we will be absolutely unable to stop our addiction on the basis of self-knowledge and, further, that as we work this program, we will obtain no more than a daily reprieve, a respite entirely contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. The focus of this group is that daily reprieve and the maintenance of that spiritual condition. We may have had spiritual beliefs before we came to these rooms; now we will have spiritual experiences. Indeed, as you sit in these rooms you may come to hear the voice of the God of your understanding in the sharing of your fellow addicts.
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous is the indispensable guide to our recovery; we base our program squarely on that volume. Not only the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, but also that of the Alanon Family Groups have much to offer us; we will always benefit from hearing about Alanon's approach to another disease of intimacy. Unlike some other groups, we do not discourage the reference to and quotation from sources of spiritual strength in your own personal recovery which have brought you closer to the God of your understanding.
[If a newcomer is present, read the following:
A word about abstinence in SAA. Unlike the programs of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, Sex Addicts Anonymous does not have a universal definition of abstinence. While many of us have discovered that, at the outset, a period of abstinence from all sexual activity may be advisable, SAA is not necessarily a program of celibacy. And while none of us can resort to prostitutes, pornography, infidelity, hook-ups, one-night stands or anonymous sex, we have discovered that every member – never alone and always with a sponsor – must define the details of his own abstinence. Please note: there is a substantial difference between abstinence, which is the cessation of our compulsive sexual behaviors, and sobriety, which is the internal peace, serenity and joy that we get after we experience the spiritual awakening that the Twelve Steps promise.]
Please be aware of the number of people present and limit the length of your sharing so that all who wish will have an opportunity to speak. This is a step and tradition discussion meeting. Other than when newcomer is present, over a 24 meeting cycle the topic will be, in order, each of the steps and each of the traditions. Today we will discuss ________________.
Closing
The time available for sharing has ended.
[Optional at the Discretion of the Meeting Chair:
At this point in our meetings we sometimes read a significant passage from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Today I would like to read the following from page[s] ___ of the Big Book:
The chair may select any passage he finds significant. Laminated copies of the paragraphs encompassing the daily reprieve language and the paragraph on Acceptance from page 417 of the 4th Edition of the Big Book are stored in this looseleaf if the chair wishes to read either of them.]
There are no dues or fees for SAA membership, but every SAA group is supported by the voluntary contributions of its members. [Pass the basket] If this is your first meeting, be our guest. Are there any SAA announcements?
The Daily Reprieve Group of SAA is not on the chip system. In this group, because yesterday's spiritual condition is no guarantee of today's, we take our lives and our recovery one day at a time. We do, however, offer the desire chip. Acceptance of this chip signifies your commitment to a single day's sobriety, and carrying the chip is a concrete reminder of that commitment. Is there any one here who wants a desire chip?
The basis of our program is working the steps with a sponsor. Is there any one present who is available to be a sponsor? We strongly suggest that you develop a network of friends in the program, whom you can call any time day or night; we call those friends program buddies. Is there anyone in the room who is willing to be a program buddy? If you see someone whom you would like to be your sponsor or program buddy, talk to them after the meeting and ask for what you need.
Remember that anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions. What you hear here, whom you see here, when you leave here, let it stay here. Let us now join in a concluding prayer.