Attraction rather than Promotion

SCA’s primary purpose and tradition is to carry it’s message to the sexual compulsive who still suffers. We are looking for help from anyone that may have internet experience with ways to ATTRACT those that may be interested or affected by CSBD (Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder) to our websites: SCAnneronline.org, https://www.youtube.com/@SCA-Recovery, SCA-recovery.org and our various Intergroups and WhatsApp meetings.

Please feel free to contact the SCAnner’s editor with any thoughts, ideas and suggestions.

The Problem of Porn Addiction

To take the test, simply answer yes or no to each of the following questions.

  1. Do you ever feel overly distracted by, preoccupied with, or obsessed with pornography?
  2. When you start to use pornography, do you sometimes have trouble stopping, consistently looking at it for longer periods than intended?
  3. Do you ever use porn as a way to avoid stress, anxiety, loneliness, boredom, or other forms of emotional discomfort?
  4. After you use porn, do you sometimes regret it or feel depressed?
  5. Have you ever promised yourself or another person that you would stop using porn, only to break that promise later?
  6. Do you ever look forward to events with family/friends ending so you can look at porn?
  7. Have you ever kept secrets about or lied about your porn use?
  8. Have you ever experienced negative consequences related to your porn use, such as relationship trouble, social/emotional isolation, issues at work/school, etc.?
  9. Does your porn use potentially offend others, violate community standards, or place you in danger of arrest?
  10. Do you feel restless, irritable, or discontent when you are unable to use porn?

A ‘yes’ response to three or more of the ten questions listed above indicates that porn addiction may be an issue.

For a long time people with porn-related issues were thought to have a history of early-life trauma. Recently, however there is a new and rapidly growing subcategory of people struggling with pornography. These individuals meet the basic criteria used to identify addiction but lack the underlying early-life trauma that typically drives addictive behavior. Rather than qualifying as traditional trauma-driven porn addicts, it appears these non-trauma-driven individuals have developed a “conditioned” addiction to pornography.

Typically, conditioned porn addicts start viewing porn at a young age, often before puberty hits. And then they fail to move beyond this easily accessed sexual outlet. For these individuals, porn serves as both sex education and sexual fulfillment. The unfortunate result of this is that the user’s emotional and psychological development in terms of sexuality and relationships can be stunted – beginning and ending with what they learn from porn. As such, their ability to form and maintain meaningful real-world romantic and sexual attachments may not develop or may not fully develop in the usual ways.

Initial treatment for conditioned porn addicts mirrors treatment for traditional addicts. In other words, early work is focused on stopping addictive behavior, breaking through denial, managing the crisis or crises that precipitated treatment, and developing tactics to combat triggers and relapse. At that point, because conditioned porn addiction is not driven by trauma, the treatment approach diverges. Rather than working to resolve early-life trauma, treatment transitions toward social development – learning how to develop and maintain real-world romantic and sexual connections. Admittedly, not all conditioned porn addicts are entirely bereft when it comes to real-world relationships. In fact, some are quite adept socially. But the majority need to be walked through the adolescent and early adult stages of social development to some degree, and that, rather than trauma resolution, is the second-level treatment focus for this population.

In SCA we not only learn how to stop the addictive behaviors but also how to grow spiritually to live a more fulfilling life.

Each SCA Meeting can have a vote?

At the 2023 SCA ISO Conference the following updates to the By-laws were made:

Article I. Delegates, Section 2. Voting Rights and Proxies

As indicated in Section 1. above, each Intergroup delegation has as many votes as the number of meetings
they represent. An individual meeting can choose to withdraw their vote from the local intergroup and send
their elected or selected representative instead. All delegates may participate in the ISO conference in
person, or by electronic means, including internet conferencing software, telephone, or other digital
methods that ISO may employ in the future. Intergroups or meetings that do not participate in the
proceedings using any of these methods may select a proxy to represent them and cast their votes. This
proxy may be another participating Intergroup, meeting, officer, or another member of SCA. A proxy
designation must be made known to the ISO Chair at least one (1) week before the scheduled conference.
Groups not participating in the ISO conference discussions will be counted as absent in any vote unless
their proxy votes on their behalf

“I want my RTV (Recovery Television).”

SCA New York is pleased to announce its Spring Show  “I want my RTV (Recovery Television).”
 
Performances will be held on Saturday, May 2nd, at 7pm and Sunday, May 3rd, at 3pm at the TADA! theater, 15 West 28th Street, near Madison Square Park. 
 
Tickets are $35 plus online transaction fee.​
 
To buy tickets, click this link:

Hitting Bottom?

There’s a common belief in addiction recovery that keeps people stuck longer than they need to be: the idea that you have to hit “rock bottom” before things can change. It sounds convincing—but it’s not true.

Waiting for things to fall apart often leads to more loss, more disconnection, and more pain. It can quietly reinforce the idea that help is only justified after irreparable damage is done. In reality, recovery doesn’t begin at rock bottom. It begins with awareness.

That moment might look like:

  • Realizing you can’t stop, even when you’ve tried
  • Noticing patterns you’ve seen before starting to repeat
  • Experiencing a rupture in your relationship
  • Or simply recognizing something doesn’t feel right anymore

It doesn’t have to be catastrophic to matter. You don’t need to lose your family, your career, or your sense of self to take this seriously. In many cases, choosing to seek support early reflects clarity, insight, and a willingness to do something different.

Awareness of Addiction can raise your “Bottom” and help you to change direction before things escalate.

“Porn-I can stop whenever I want”

Did your use of porn start with the belief: “It’s no big deal, everyone does it. I can stop whenever I want.” But over time you noticed the patterns deepening and attempts to reduce usage fall by the wayside. Guilt and shame may prevent you from even addressing the issue.

Porn usage is usually done in private and is available around the clock. You my start to find yourself planning your day around it. Staying up later than you want to. Having one slip after another. None of this means you are weak. It means you are trying to manage this burden on your own.  At SCA you can find that you are not alone and it’s about not having to navigate everything by yourself. It’s a place where you can take your time and understand what is driving the behavior, but more important it’s a place where you can start building healthier patterns.

Remembering Bill E (SCA LA, San Diego & Washington DC)

Bill died on November 15th of pancreatic cancer.  A Celebration of Life will be held for him on Saturday, January 17th 2026 at 11AM. It will take place at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101. There will be a reception to follow in the Great Hall. 

If you plan to attend, please send an email to: Bill.Eadie.COL@gmail.com to give them an idea of the number of people who might participate.
Bill was an ISO rep for Los Angeles and San Diego SCA in the early days of ISO. He was very active in our literature development committees. More recently, he worked on the SCA History and Unity Committee. His background in history and academics was a great help to our work.  Bill also served for several years as the ISO Webmaster, helping to produce our current website. Thirty two years ago Bill moved to Washington DC and helped start SCA there and those original meetings are still ongoing today.
Bill E. was a scholar and a gentleman in my experience, and his long and dedicated service to SCA will have touched the lives of many members who are likely completely unaware of it, as well as those who are.

Sexual Sobriety

Various definitions

Many people who come to this website are struggling with some aspect of sexual behavior that could be called addictive, compulsive, obsessive, dependent, or otherwise out-of-control (all various ways of saying basically the same thing, which is that a person is powerless over some aspect of his or her sexual behavior and that his or her life has become unmanageable).

Sexual Sobriety Definitions Vary

The definition of what constitutes sexual “sobriety” is not the same among the five different fellowships.  Knowing these differences can be helpful in deciding which fellowship best suits the individual needs of each person seeking sexual recovery. There are at least five different 12-Step fellowships that address a person’s sexual behavior.  They are all based on the original 12-step fellowship, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).  From the time of its founding in the 1930’s. A.A. has been so successful in helping people recover from alcohol dependence that its format has been adapted to many other behaviors.  Several different fellowships for achieving sexual sobriety originated in different parts of the country within a few years of each other.

SCA states that: “Members are encouraged to develop their own sexual recovery plan, and to define sexual sobriety for themselves. We are not here to repress our God-given sexuality, but to learn how to express it in ways that will not make unreasonable demands on our time and energy, place us in legal jeopardy — or endanger our mental, physical or spiritual health.”

Although the SCA fellowship originally sought to address issues of sexual compulsion among gay and bisexual men, it has always been open to all sexual genders and orientations, and there is an increasing number of women and heterosexual men participating.

(posted from the SCA Atlanta’s website: https://atlantasexaddicts.com/gasca)