It's not unusual to feel unsure about going to your first S-Anon meeting. Many long-time S-Anon members still remember how reluctant they were to go to that first meeting. They felt vulnerable at a difficult time in their lives. But they found understanding, support, and community. We meet every Tuesday at 7PM, please email us [email protected] for our location and more information.
Here are a few things to keep in mind at your first meeting:
The Twelve Steps of S-Anon
http://sanon.org/steps.html.
Here are a few things to keep in mind at your first meeting:
- S-Anon is a mutual support group. Everyone at the meeting shares as an equal. No one is in a position to give advice or direction anyone else. Everyone at the meeting has experienced a problem with someone else's sexaholism.
- You are free to ask questions or to talk about your situation at your first meeting. If you'd rather just listen, you can say "I pass", or explain that you just don't feel like sharing at that moment.
- Every meeting is different. Each meeting has the autonomy to be run as its members choose, within guidelines designed to promote S-Anon unity. S-Anon recommends that you try at least six different meetings before you decide if S-Anon will be helpful to you.
- S-Anon is NOT a religious program. Even if the meeting is held in a religious center, the local S-Anon group pays rent to that center and is no affiliated in any way with any religious group. Your religious beliefs -- or lack of -- are not a subject for discussion at S-Anon meetings, which focus solely on coping with the effects of someone's sexaholism.
- It may take some time to fully understand the significance of anonymity to the S-Anon program. But at its simplest level, anonymity means that the people in the room will respect the confidentiality of what you say and won't approach you outside the room in a way that compromises your privacy or the privacy of anyone who attended an S-Anon meeting.
- The meeting will begin with a reading of the Twelve Steps of S-Anon. It will take some time to fully understand how the Twelve Steps can be a helpful tool in recovering from the effects of someone's sexaholism. But S-Anon gives you the opportunity to grow at your own pace, and in your own time.
The Twelve Steps of S-Anon
http://sanon.org/steps.html.