Thursday, October 22nd
In a relationship, my plan was simple: no sex outside of my relationship. Now that I am single, I need to decide what is healthy or unhealthy sex for me.
We consider creating a Sexual Recovery Plan to help us define behaviors that we consider harmful to ourselves and others. The plan’s purpose is not to make our sex lives more rigid but to free ourselves from the compulsive activities that shamed and isolated us.
We start creating a plan by identifying the specific behaviors we want to change or stop. We might wish to rethink every aspect of our sexuality, especially if we have experienced recent shifts in our lives.
Working with a sponsor or other program members may clarify the impact of our compulsive behaviors. We may wish to ask other members to offer suggestions for building a plan. Sharing our concerns with others can help break destructive patterns of isolation and self-pity.
We might seek guidance in identifying “gray area” actions and stresses or ways to develop new, affirming activities. Nevertheless, nobody should direct us on what to include in our Sexual Recovery Plan.
With the help of our Higher Power, we begin to experiment with authentic sexual expression and discover that sobriety is more rewarding than compulsive sex.