Friday, October 2nd

My first few months of sobriety were painful. My repressed emotions bubbled to the surface, and I felt sorry for myself.

Withdrawal from sexual compulsion can be painful for many of us. Our behaviors may have become so habitual that we seemed to be sexually acting out in a dream world. Partial or total abstention from those activities can feel strange and uncomfortable. We might experience physical symptoms, emotional outbursts, and euphoric recall. Some of us may seek relief through other compulsive or addictive behaviors.

For many sexual compulsives, abstinence is a tool, not a goal. We want to replace our old acting out behaviors with new, affirming ones, including healthy sex, as we define it for ourselves. But our transition from one to the other can be painful and cause us to fear that we might not change our behaviors successfully or have a healthy sex life.

SCA is a spiritual program. The sobriety we seek is more than “not acting out.” Through working the Steps and using the Tools, we may experience a personality shift sufficient to bring about recovery from sexual compulsion. In recovery, we begin to express — not repress — emotions, show compassion for ourselves and others, ask for help, and pass that help on to others.

We seek the rebirth of our relationship with ourselves, our Higher Power, and others.