Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous - About The Program

About The Program

As of 2012, there were over 16,000 estimated members with 1200 meetings in 43 countries including Brazil, China, India, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and most of Europe. S.L.A.A. is pronounced "SLAW" on the west coast and "SLAY" on the east coast of the United States. COSLAA is another twelve-step fellowship created to support the family members and friends of sex and love addicts.

S.L.A.A. encourages members to identify their own "bottom-line behaviors" with the guidance of a sponsor. The organization identifies these behaviors as "any sexual or emotional act, no matter what its initial impulse may be, which leads to loss of control over rate, frequency, or duration of its occurrence or recurrence, resulting in spiritual, mental, physical, emotional, and moral destruction of oneself and others." Maintaining "sobriety" in the S.L.A.A. program requires abstaining from one's bottom-line behaviors. However, these behaviors are never set in stone and may change as S.L.A.A. members continue in the program. Examples of bottom line behaviors might include sexual or romantic activity outside the scope of monogamous relationships, anonymous or casual sex, compulsive avoidance of intimacy or emotional attachment, one-night stands, compulsive masturbation, obsessive fantasy, compulsive attraction to unavailable or abusive partners, and a wide variety of addictive sexual, romantic, or avoidant behaviors. Other areas of the addiction include addiction to Fantasy and Sexual/Emotional Intrigue.

Many of those practicing the S.L.A.A. recovery program develop the ability to engage in a healthy committed relationship. S.L.A.A. encourages recovery from sexual anorexia, emotional anorexia and social anorexia, three related areas of self-deprivation that lead to isolation and often accompany patterns of addictive behavior. It is stressed in meetings, however, that SLAA is not a dating program.

As in AA and other 12-Step programs, members are encouraged to find recovery through Sponsorship. Members work with a sponsor who is also a member of S.L.A.A. who guides the sponsee (member) through the Twelve Steps of recovery. Many members and sponsors feel that recovery is not achievable without active sponsorship.