For Newcomers

SAA Montreal Telephone: 
514-418-5920

Weekly Meetings - Page View

Meetings are where you may hear, experience - fellowship and recovery. 

"Bring your own" experience, whatever that is.

It's OK to come to a meeting feeling scared and unsure. Any old-timer was a newcomer who also didn’t know what to expect.

See on main menu the Sex Addiction Self-assessment Test (SAST). Take the test.

We suggest you try six (6) meetings to experience if meetings help you.  

S.A.A. is meant to be a safe place to share, learn and recover from sex addiction.  

Members may* share their story while others listen witnessing another's journey/progress.

We could identify with their feelings of shame, loneliness, and behaviours.

If you listen, you may hear members share their experience, strength, and hope, rather than focusing on the differences.  

We also invite you to read the other brochures provided for you to help you get acquainted with the Montreal fellowship of Sex Addicts Anonymous.

Must I share?

You are not required to share. You may say nothing, or wait until you feel like sharing.

If and when you are ready to share, you are invited to share from your own experience using “I” statements. 

Please avoid explicit language that could be sexually abusive to others.  When in doubt, talk to another member before or after the meeting and ask what may be appropriate to share at the group level.  

Observe other members’ sharing as a guideline.  We found that changing how we speak with others at the group level helps cultivate an environment of safety for everyone present.

We typically do not address other members directly by name during our sharing because this takes the focus off the person who is sharing and onto the person who is being addressed without their consent.  

We also do not comment on another member’s sharing because our meetings are a safe place where we can talk about what is going on for us, sharing our own experiences. 

Members may not feel safe sharing if they feel another member might criticize them.  If you have any questions that come up during the meeting, you may discuss with another member after the meeting is done.  We do not normally give feedback during a meeting.

What are “circle boundaries”?

At our meeting, you can obtain our brochure Three Circles which many of our members found helpful in figuring out what “inner circle behaviours” are. Many of us have also found that working with a sponsor has helped us establish what our inner circle behaviors are and becoming sober from them. 

To find out more about sponsorship and what it entails, we suggest reading our sponsorship pamphlet.

You may be comparing your behavior with the way other members have acted out in their addiction, focusing on the differences and having a difficult time identifying with their behaviors.

The Bubble pamphlet can help you identify with some of the common aspects and feelings we experience while in our active sex addiction, regardless of the specific behaviours involved.

Is S.A.A. a religious organization? No, Sex Addicts Anonymous is not affiliated with any religious denomination.  Any spiritual nature of this, or any program, is derived from one's own experience. Any who seeks to stop their own addictive sexual behavior is welcomed with or without a spiritual and/or religious affiliation. While some meetings are held in churches, we as an organization, are renters of these facilities not members of them.

If you have any more questions...  Please feel free to ask any member before, or after, but not during a meeting.

* specially scheduled meeting