If this is your first contact with a Twelve Step program, we ask that you try not to analyze, diagnose, or label another person’s behavior. The most important thing to know, as S-Ateen members, is that sexaholism is an addiction just like any other addiction – with the same elements of loss of control, the tendency to continue the damaging behavior despite negative consequences, and the need to do more of the behavior to get the same result. Also, like other addictions, sexaholism affects the whole family.
Though our story and circumstances may differ from those of other S-Ateen members, most often, our feelings about these situations are the same. In S-Ateen we realize we are not alone.
In S-Ateen we consider sexaholic behaviors to be symptoms of a disease – unacceptable actions taken by sick people who are powerless over lust and/or inappropriate sexual behavior. Through working the S-Ateen program, many of us have overcome powerful feelings of shame or guilt that arose out of being so closely connected to this “shameful” disease. We have come to understand and accept that we are not responsible for the actions of others and that those burdens of shame and guilt are not rightfully ours to carry. Our solution depends on keeping focused on our own personal path of recovery and allowing the sexaholic to do the same.