ESSAY Magazine (An International Journal of Sexaholics Anonymous)

Episódios

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  ESSAY August 2026 - Editor’s Corner - The Editorial Team 15.08.2026 1min

  You are invited to read this "Editor's Corner" in your home group during announcements.   The August 2026 edition of ESSAY Magazine is a powerful theme that breaks open the topic of sharing in meetings. The hope that this topic brings is for the opportunity to grow in understanding and effectiveness in carrying the message in meetings. One member shares how moving away from cussing removed his self-loathing. Another member shares how using clinical language helped members to identify with him while avoiding graphic and triggering language at the same time. Choosing connection over holding the meeting hostage is how this member describes the decision she makes to share responsibly.
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  ESSAY August 2026 - SA CFC - Mike, Utah, USA 15.08.2026 5min

  Time Out Sponsor by mail helped him to address what was buried and oozing out. All my life, I looked like I had it together—married, seven children, active in serving others, and a belief in a Higher Power. But for 27 years, I lived a double life, trapped in pornography and secrets.
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  ESSAY August 2026 - What’s Going On in SA - SA Board of Trustees 13.08.2026 2min

  A Letter of Concern to Us All This is a portion of the SA Trustees’ letter to us all regarding the crisis of the Seventh Tradition.  June, 2026 Greetings SA Groups, We give thanks for you, your Group, and for the hope of recovery from sexual addiction you represent in your community. We all unite around the Fifth Tradition: “Each group has but one primary purpose – to carry its message to the sexaholic who still suffers”(12 & 12 150 ).
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  ESSAY August 2026 - Raising My Hand: Swearing in Meetings - Jack H., Canada 13.08.2026 2min

  Recovery shows him the damage that swearing and sarcasm cause to others and to himself. I most often raise my hand during SA meetings when a member’s share includes successive instances of swearing. I feel and see the pain in the speaker, and that pain projected at others in the room. I hear their self-hate and feel the words burying into my similarly wounded soul. I raise my hand and often take the member aside after the meeting to explain that their swearing reminds me of how cruel and disrespectful I was to myself and inadvertently to others around me.
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  ESSAY August 2026 - Motivation To Walk the Talk - Peg V., Cleveland, Ohio 13.08.2026 4min

  The Program taught her how to embrace every healing aspect of Recovery, Unity, and Service. “What happened to you?” my grandmother asked. I was eight years old. Silence. I had been raped by my father. He told me if I told my mother, I would kill her; did that apply to my grandmother too? I took no chances and stayed silent. My fantasy world began, and I gained 30 pounds that year. The weight gain was protection from my father—maybe he would no longer find me attractive. I became very introverted and isolated. My peers called me the hermit. I was also sexually abused by an uncle and shut that incident out for 20 years. My mother continued to have health problems and was frequently in the hospital, leaving me alone with my father. 
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  ESSAY August 2026 - The Message in Meetings: The Mess to My Sponsor - Anonymous 13.08.2026 3min

  He learned boundaries that allowed him to share safely and listen attentively.  There is a time to speak and a time to listen. I had to relearn how to talk and listen in the rooms in order to stay in the Fellowship and keep working the Steps. When I first came to the rooms, I was brash and egotistical. My unhelpful shares were full of platitudes of SA sayings and advice to think positively. Afterwards, I would wait for applause or a smiling emoji. When I failed to get any response, I would drift into self-pity and fear of rejection. Alternatively, when I listened to others’ shares, I judged them harshly. I would critique their share on how positive their message was, if there was a logical progression, or if it was funny. I was not open-minded, so I learned little and criticized even more as the years passed.
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  ESSAY August 2026 - Holding Others Hostage vs. Connection - Anonymous 13.08.2026 5min

  She is so grateful that the Steps taught her how to connect using safe, healthy sharing.  When I built a wall between me and those I loved, I severed connection to God and others.  I completely separated myself when I was four years old because I was raging at everyone. 
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  ESSAY August 2026 - Stopped Being a Carbuncle - Vince G., Canada 13.08.2026 2min

  Recovery was not something to observe on the sidelines of life, but rather something to be lived.  When I first came into the Fellowship, I was confounded and confused. I had no idea how to recover and definitely no recovery experience to share. So, I simply sat in meetings and absorbed the knowledge, information, and, most importantly, the experience, strength, and hope (ESH) that others had and shared. This continued for months. 
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  ESSAY August 2026 - When Sobriety is Jeopardized - Kathie S., Devon, UK 13.08.2026 2min

  The literature on sharing in meetings helped her apply boundaries to protect her sobriety. One of the earliest pieces my sponsor recommended I read and journal my thoughts on was the section in the White Book called “Meetings—How They Work” (SA 185).  In particular, the “Meeting Guidelines” (SA 188-189). These pages set me up wonderfully for a lifetime of appropriate sharing and listening in SA meetings.
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  ESSAY August 2026 - Never Like Normal People - Anonymous 13.08.2026 2min

  90 days in Nashville for a breakthrough in recovery from lust Yesterday, I got in my apartment and spent my first night in my twin bed… a bit sleepless in the beginning. My first thought when I saw the beautiful twin bed was, of course, “Who will I get in here?” 
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  ESSAY August 2026 - A Simple Request - Mirsha, Chihuahua, México 13.08.2026 5min

  She is grateful that instead of acting out, she is working the Program. I am Mirsha, a sexaholic. I have been in the Program for nine months, with three months of sobriety and two relapses. A few days ago, I received a friend request on Facebook. I asked myself why I liked him and whether it was a good idea to add him, since I am committed to respecting and valuing him as a human being.
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  ESSAY August 2026 - Open-Hearted Sharing - Margot, USA 13.08.2026 6min

  Bringing the inside out has taught her how to connect with members in the Fellowship. My name is Margot. I am a sexaholic. My sobriety date, through God’s grace and the grace of the Program, is March 14, 1986. My history is that I acted out, first with myself and then with others, for about 30 years before I found this Program. 
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  ESSAY August 2026 - A Lot Like Gravity - Josh G., Michigan, USA 13.08.2026 2min

  Sharing responsibly allows him to thrive in healthy connections. What is “Healthy”? For me, being healthy means letting go of the need to see everything as good or bad, right or wrong. Instead, it is about viewing life organically—focusing on functionality and balance, and asking, “Am I thriving?” It means being at peace with the tension between my weaknesses and strengths, my failures and accomplishments, and my clarity and confusion. It is a constant checking in with my internal state, an acceptance of reality as it is, and seeking God’s will that remains open to the input of others.
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  ESSAY August 2026 - What a Gift! - Esty K., USA 13.08.2026 4min

  Tradition Three allows her to stay in SA and receive a life of recovery and growth. I have been in SA for over eight years now. SA is my home. I’ve been told that I’m not a sexaholic and I don’t need this program. But I’m back today because I decided that Tradition Three states that the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop lusting and become sexually sober–and for that, I qualify. I decided I need constant support to live, and I love the strength and commitment I find in SA meetings. 
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  ESSAY August 2026 - The Great Fact - Maxim K., Moscow, Russia 13.08.2026 4min

  Sharing only what happened before and after sobriety, he lets God reveal the degree of happiness through his shine. We carry the great message to all who have lost hope in coping with addiction to lust. There is the Great Fact for us, and that is nothing more than a “deep and powerful experience” changing everything in our lives.
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  ESSAY August 2026 - Concepts Two and Three: The Active Voice and Right of Decision - Anonymous 13.08.2026 2min

  Electing leaders allows the Fellowship to keep authority, while elements of the service structure can decide according to informed conscience.  Concept 2 The leadership of SA, as represented by the General Delegate Assembly and the Board of Trustees, has become for nearly every practical purpose the active voice and the effective conscience of our whole society in its service matters. 
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  ESSAY August 2026 - Recovery is Contagious - Roger K., FL / Jim C., Pittsburgh, USA 13.08.2026 2min

  Catching recovery occurs when seeking continuous service and rather than seeking self-gratification. While attending May’s Pittsburgh retreat, I saw many forms of service essential to the SA Program. Service, one of SA’s Three Legacies, was the first opportunity the fellowship gave me to put others before myself without self-centered motives. It remains one of the primary ways I use the tools of the Program and my Higher Power to contribute to the greater good rather than seeking self-gratification.
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  ESSAY August 2026 - Australia Day Weekend - Jason C., Jesmond, Australia 13.08.2026 1min

  A day to have as much fun as possible. We had our first SA conference in a long time. It was different from most conferences because we tried something different. We had only a few meetings. A member from Melbourne spoke about how to build a strong Fellowship. A woman from Perth spoke about fear and resentment, and Jason told a powerful story of redemption in the SA prison space. A long-timer spoke about having fun in recovery. 
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  ESSAY August 2026 - Gratitude Celebration - La Liberación, Bogotá, Colombia 13.08.2026 1min

  Celebrating our founder was a celebration of everyone. Remembering our founder, Roy K., and his courageous effort to establish Sexaholics Anonymous, we recall with immense gratitude the first SA meeting on February 4, 1979.
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  אוגוסט 2026 חיבור - תשתף את המסר עם הקבוצה, ואת הבעיות עם הספונסר - אנונימי 13.08.2026 3min

    הוא למד גבולות שאפשרו לו לשתף בבטחה ולהקשיב בתשומת לב יש זמן לדבר, ויש זמן להקשיב. אני הייתי חייב ללמוד מחדש איך לדבר ולהקשיב בחדרים כדי שאוכל להישאר בחברותא ולהמשיך את עבודת הצעדים. כשהגעתי לראשונה לחדרים, הייתי יהיר ואנוכי. השיתופים הלא מועילים שלי היו מלאים בסיסמאות נפוצות של SA, והייתי חוזר לעודד חשיבה חיובית. אחר כך הייתי ממתין לקבל את מחיאות הכפיים והחיוכים. כשלא קיבלתי אף תגובה, הייתי גולש לתוך הרחמים העצמיים הפחדים והדחייה.מנגד, כשהייתי מקשיב לשיתופים של אחרים, שפטתי אותם קשות. הייתי מדרג את השיתוף שלהם על סולם של רמת החיוביות של המסר שלהם, על ההדרגתיות ההגיונית של הסיפור, או רק על העובדה שהיה מצחיק או לא. לא הייתי פתוח מחשבתית, אז למדתי מעט, ושפטתי אפילו יותר ככל שהשנים חלפו