The first steps you take on the path to recovery can be daunting, but most who stick with it find that the journey itself is one of the greatest blessings of recovery.  Here are some suggestions to get started:    

Get to meetings:  “Meeting makers make it.”  That’s an adage in all 12-step programs, and for good reason.  Meetings are essential, especially in the early days.  While doing “90 meetings in 90 days” may be a challenge, the more meetings you make, the more you will come to understand you are not alone.  Check our area Meeting List.  A few of our meetings are designed for ‘beginners’, but you are welcome at any of our meetings!

Talk to an addict:  “You are not alone” means help and comfort are as close as your telephone.  Get some phone numbers and use them, often.  Do not worry about being a burden.  The primary purpose of each S.L.A.A. group, and each member of that group, is “… to carry its message to the sex and love addict who still suffers”.  Each phone call helps two people … you and the person you call.

Get a sponsor:  A fellow addict who has solid sobriety will provide invaluable guidance in early ‘house cleaning’ and in getting you started on the steps.  Talk to your sponsor daily, or hourly, or as often as needed.

Embrace a higher power:   This is a ‘spiritual’, not a ‘religious’ program.  If you have a problem with God, in the traditional sense, you are in good company.  Step Two speaks of a “power greater than ourselves” and in Step Three, you will turn our life over to the care of “God as we understood God”.  To some, believing in a “power greater than ourselves”, is a metaphor for acknowledging that you cannot do this alone.  Some have found reading the chapter entitled “To the Agnostic” in the AA Big Book helpful.  Proceed with patience, and an open mind.

Start working the steps:  Do this with a sponsor, and start soon!  Do Step One.  Then, move to Step Two.  Do each step, in its proper order and in the proper time.  Do not insist on perfection, except for Step One.  Your embracing of the Twelve Steps will be a life-long endeavor. 

Make recovery the focus of your life:  Talking to your sponsor or another addict, getting to meetings, reading the literature (available at most meetings), prayer and meditation, and clearing the debris by getting rid of any and all accoutrements of your past life (phone lists, pornography, magazine subscriptions, toys, etc.) will help keep you from the pitfalls of idle time.  Fill your new life with spiritually uplifting thoughts and activities. 

Visit the following pages:

·         Do I Belong?  (An overview of S.L.A.A.)  Those who believe they may be Anorexic will want to read the appropriate information on that page

·         Self-Diagnosis  (Forty questions that may help you understand where you are)

·         NY-NJ Area Meetings  (complete list of recovery meetings in the greater NYC area, and phone meetings)

Other resources are available on the Felowship-Wide Services website, where you may also obtain S.L.A.A. approved literature, from pamphlets to the Basic Text.  You may also find literature at most meetings.