History Of SLAA
Started in 1976, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) is a 12 step, 12 tradition oriented fellowship based on the model pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous.
The first members came together when they realized that sex, romantic intrigue and dependency were affecting their lives in the same ways as their chemical addictions had. They found that the compulsion to continue with promiscuous sex or to return over and over to destructive relationships could not be controlled by will power alone.
Although SLAA was started by recovering alcoholics and is modeled after AA, meetings are open to any person who believes he/she has this problem whether having previously suffered from chemical dependency or not. The only qualifications for SLAA membership is the desire to stop living out the pattern of sex and love addiction.
As a fellowship, SLAA has no opinion on outside issues and seeks no controversy. SLAA is not affiliated with any other organizations, movements or causes, either religious or secular. We are however, united in a common focus: dealing with our addictive sexual and emotional behavior. We find a common denominator in our obsessive/compulsive patterns which renders any personal differences of sexual or gender orientation irrelevant.
Members include both those who suffer from a compulsive need for sex and those with a desperate attachment to one person. What all members have in common is an obsessive/ compulsive pattern, either sexual or emotional (or both), in which relationships or activities have become increasingly destructive to all areas of their lives; career, family and sense of self-respect.
