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Three
men familiar with the way a 12-Step program helps people recover from
addictions, met in the summer of 1987 in a restaurant discussing how they
might help one another overcome sexual compulsivity.
One of them had just read a new book called Out
of the Shadows (Patrick Carnes, Hazelden Publishers). Their
obsessive and compulsive behavior was destroying their relationships both
in family and at work. The book spoke of using the Twelve
Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to overcome sexual addiction
problems. It gave them hope and they were determined to find a way out.
Colorado Springs
That
summer they began meeting weekly in an office building near the Garden
of the Gods Road in Colorado Springs. They drew from their recovery in
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Cocaine Anonymous (CA), adopting the AA
"Big Book" and Out Of The Shadows as their texts. That
Tuesday night meeting soon extended to Thursdays and Saturdays as their
numbers grew and the membership needed more meetings per week in order
to get sober.
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Currently
they meet in Colorado Springs at 1123 Elkton Drive in the VerTec Building
just north of Gardon of the Gods Road. Meetings are now Tuesdays,
8:00 to 9:00pm and Saturday afternoons from 3:00 to 4:00pm.
Cañon
City
In 1989, they reached out to sex addicts behind bars in Cañon City.
That meeting on Monday nights at Freemont Correctional Facility averages
twenty and includes a step study every other week.
Overall
Choosing to remain unaffiliated from the international 12-Step fellowships,
these meetings cooperate with the other "S" groups in their
city and state. The group has adopted several other texts:
Hope
& Recovery (Hazelden), Alcoholics
Anonymous (the "Big Book"), Twelve
Steps and Twelve Traditions of AA,
and a daily devotional called Answers
in the Heart. They have also developed their own pamphlets
to aide members: SponsorshipQuestions and Answers,
and Getting StartedUsing the Program.
Current meeting information for Colorado Springs is available on a phone
recording at: (719) 573-7992.
Meetings
at: 1123 Elkton Drive, Colorado Springs
(VerTec Building)
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