SRA Meeting Format


In the event that an SRA Meeting Format is unavailable in hardcopy, this page can be used instead.  Alternatively, you can download the SRA Suggested Meeting Format pamphlet itself, although it may be more difficult to read on a mobile device.

The suggested format for an SRA Business Meeting is available here.


SRA Meeting Format


Introduction
Why We Came to SRA
Why We Stayed
The 12 Steps of SRA
Sharing
Treasurer’s Break
Closing
9th Step Promises


Introduction


Hello, my name is _______. I’m a recovering sex addict. Welcome to this open/closed meeting of Sexual Recovery Anonymous. SRA is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength and hope with each other so that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop compulsive sexual behavior. People of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status, level of ability or any other identity are welcome in SRA. There are no dues or fees for SRA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. SRA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution, does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes.

Our primary purpose is to stay sexually sober and help others achieve sobriety. Sobriety is the release from all compulsive and destructive sexual behaviors. We have found through our experience that sobriety includes freedom from masturbation and from sex outside a mutually committed relationship.

We believe that spirituality and self-love are antidotes to the addiction. We are walking towards a healthy sexuality.

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Opening Prayer


Would all who care to, join me in the Serenity Prayer?

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.


Newcomers


A word to newcomers. We welcome you to SRA. We encourage you to attend 6 to 8 meetings before deciding if SRA is for you. We have literature to help us work our program. We also use the telephone in our recovery. We encourage you to ask members of the fellowship for their phone numbers. After the meeting some of us go for coffee. Please join us.


Meeting Conduct


Meetings begin and end on time. No eating or smoking in the meeting area. This is not a place to pick up sex partners or for learning how to control and enjoy our sexual compulsions. Given the nature of our addiction we try to be mindful of how we dress. At this meeting we kindly request that cellphones be turned off and that all electronics be silenced.


Our Program


Our program offers a path of recovery from sex addiction. Like all addictions, sex addiction interferes with the life process, and can even be life-threatening. SRA offers a way to stop compulsive sexual behavior through practicing the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. The list of statements in the section, “Do Belong in SRA?,” found in the pamphlet Sexual Recovery Anonymous, will help you decide if you are addicted. We believe that two behaviors are common to all of us. First, we cannot stop, and second, we use the addiction to avoid feelings and alter our moods.


Why We Came To SRA


The disease of sex addiction was destroying our lives, our self-esteem, our relationships, our careers, our physical and spiritual health.  Many of us feared sexually transmitted disease, physical assault, or suicide. Though our individual behaviors may have been different, our feelings were similar: despair, shame, hopelessness, and anguish, mixed in with intense excitement and forgetfulness. These feelings were always followed by still worse pain. We were starting to see the truth—our problem was progressive, it always got worse. The illusion that the next time would “fix” us, that we would feel better and could then control our behavior, was revealed for what it was—a false promise.

We began to sense that we were spinning downwards, out of control, toward a life of loneliness, misery, jail, insanity, perhaps even toward death. In these moments of clarity, we were frightened.

We could not stop or control our behavior by ourselves. Our lives had become unmanageable. Finally, when the pain grew great enough, we were ready to try anything, and we came to Sexual Recovery Anonymous.

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Why We Stayed


For the first time we found people who shared our problem. Others actually understood and felt the same way. We were accepted for who we were. We stayed because of the promise of hope. Later we stayed because of hopes fulfilled.

When we came to SRA, it was suggested that we stop our destructive sexual behaviors. For most of us, this meant stopping all sexual behavior for a period of time. Many of us had never done this, and the prospect was unimaginable and terrifying. The thought of sobriety seemed painful, impossible, or just plain boring. Some of us felt that we would die if we didn’t have sex.

We began to work the Twelve Steps of the program. For some of us, it was the first time we were ever clear enough of the addiction to find out who we were. We began to have a spiritual relationship with a Power greater than ourselves. For many it became a healing and loving relationship.

It became clear that our problems could not be solved by ourselves alone. We needed the strength and wisdom of the fellowship to learn how to live without engaging in our addiction, one day at a time.

While at first we stayed because we knew we had to, in order to survive, we now stay because we want to. We stay because we know it is here we can fill the emptiness. Here we can find what we searched for in all the dark places of our addiction.  This program of recovery offers dignity of self.

The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of SRA offer a healing home in which our spirits can at first rest, then grow, then finally soar.

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The 12 Steps of SRA


  1. We admitted we were powerless over our sexual obsessions—that our lives had become unmanageable.
  2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
  3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.
  4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
  5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
  6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
  7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
  8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
  9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
  10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
  11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.
  12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to those still suffering, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

(AT THIS POINT: READ STEP OR TRADITION, ASK FOR SPIRITUAL TIMEKEEPER, INTRODUCE THE SPEAKER.)


Sharing


For our sharing, the focus is on recovery, on openness, honesty, and healing—how we apply the Twelve Steps to our daily lives. In SRA we use no sexually abusive language or explicit descriptions. If someone feels another is getting too explicit, they may so signify by quietly raising their hand.

We avoid naming specific persons, locations, websites or publications, as they may relate to sexual acting out. We don’t cross-talk, interrupt or give advice. It’s OK to relate to what some one says, but it’s not OK to try to fix, validate, or invalidate someone’s share.


Treasurer’s Break


(About halfway through the meeting take a Seventh Tradition break. Ask for any SRA-related announcements. According to the group conscience of the meeting, hand out chips and/or give an opportunity for day counts.)


Closing


(THANK THE SPIRITUAL TIMEKEEPER AND SPEAKER.)

Anything you have heard at this meeting is strictly the opinion of the individual participant. The principles of SRA are found in our Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. This is an anonymous program. Please keep the name, address and phone number of anyone you meet or learn about in SRA confidential. What we say here, let it stay here. Remember, we never identify ourselves with SRA publicly, in the press, on radio, TV or films. Neither does anyone speak for SRA.


The 9th Step Promises


TAKEN FROM P. 83 OF THE AA BIG BOOK

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through.

  • We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
  • We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
  • We will comprehend the word serenity.
  • We will know peace.
  • No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.
  • That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
  • We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
  • Self-seeking will slip away.
  • Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
  • Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us.
  • We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
  • We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.


Closing Prayer


God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.


Notes


We are grateful to the program of Alcoholics Anonymous for the permission to adapt the AA Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, and Preamble.

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The Care and Nurturing of Meetings


Service is crucial to the survival and growth of our meetings. We have also found through our experience that doing service is an enriching and rewarding experience that helps us maintain our sobriety. Listed below are the service positions that are ordinarily required at meetings, with a brief description of their responsibilities and suggested sobriety requirements. A reminder: These are suggested requirements only. Each group is autonomous and may choose, through group conscience, to follow these guidelines, or not.

Secretary: Takes and maintains the minutes of the business meeting. Suggested sobriety requirement: three months in the program and thirty days of sobriety. Suggested term: three months.

Treasurer: Passes a basket to collect donations during the Seventh Tradition break. During the monthly business meeting, reports to the group on the status of the treasury. Pays the rent and disburses money according to the group conscience of the meeting, such as sending money to SRA Intergroup or the General Service Board. Suggested sobriety requirement: six months in the program and sixty days of sobriety. Suggested term: three months.

Literature Person: Sees to it that the meeting has an adequate supply of literature according to the group conscience of the meeting. Displays the literature during the meeting and puts it away after the meeting. Sells literature, collects money and orders literature through SRA Intergroup or other sources. Suggested sobriety requirement: three months in the program and thirty days of sobriety. Suggested term: three months.

Intergroup Representative: Attends SRA Intergroup meetings once a month and helps carry on the work of Intergroup. Reports to the meeting about Intergroup meetings and also takes issues of importance back to Intergroup meetings for discussion and possible action. Suggested sobriety requirement: six months in the program and ninety days of sobriety. Suggested term: one year.

Sponsorship Coordinator: Assists members in getting sponsors by maintaining a sponsorship book which lists members desiring sponsors and members willing to be interim sponsors. Announces this service at every meeting. Suggested sobriety requirement: six months in the program and ninety days of sobriety. Suggested term: three months.

Secretary: Takes and maintains the minutes of the business meeting. Suggested sobriety requirement: three months in the program and thirty days of sobriety. Suggested term: three months.

General Service Board Representative: Attends General Service Board (GSB) meetings or conference calls once a quarter and helps carry on the work of the GSB. Reports to the meeting about GSB meetings. Suggested sobriety requirement: six months in the program and six months of sobriety. Suggested term: two years.

map of the tri-state area