New Life MeetingFor counselors, clergy, and physicians.
You may be the first person they tell. Here is what we are, what we aren't, and the easiest way to get them into the room.
What SA is
Sexaholics Anonymous is a Twelve Step fellowship on the pattern of Alcoholics Anonymous, for people who want to stop sexually destructive thinking and behavior. Meetings are run by members. There are no professionals, no fees, and no records. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop lusting and become sexually sober, which SA defines as no sex with self or with anyone other than one's spouse, and progressive victory over lust.
What SA isn't
It is not treatment or therapy, and it doesn't replace either. Many of our members are in counseling, and in our experience the two reinforce each other: the counselor does the clinical work, and the fellowship gives a person a room to be honest in three times a week and people to call at midnight. We don't diagnose, we don't take positions on outside issues, and we don't share who attends.
The meeting
The New Life Meeting is a closed meeting in Springfield, Missouri, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday morning. Closed means it is for those seeking their own recovery. Our members are primarily men, and in recent years more women have been reaching out. Anyone who calls is welcome; depending on circumstances, a woman is invited or connected with women in SA. Details are on the Find us page, and the first meeting page walks through the format minute by minute, which some clients find helpful to read before they go.
How to refer
- Give them the address of this site, or the meeting line: 417-501-9395. Fellowships work best when the person makes the contact themselves. Our experience matches SA's: getting sober for a spouse, an employer, or a counselor doesn't hold, and the call is the first step.
- If they'd like it, a member will meet them in the parking lot before their first meeting and walk in with them. They can ask for that when they call.
- If you'd like to talk with a member about the program before referring, call the meeting line and say you're a professional, or write to help@clearawaythewreckage.org. We'll call back.
Literature
SA publishes a pamphlet for helping professionals, SA As a Resource for the Health and Helping Professional, free from the SA International Central Office. We're glad to mail you copies, along with cards carrying the meeting times, for your waiting room. The central office is at sa.org, 866-424-8777.
Partners and families
This site and this meeting are for the person with the problem. SA's literature directs partners and family to S-Anon, its separate fellowship. Please send them there rather than to us.