What is Intimacy and Sexual Avoidance?
“Welcome to the Intimacy and Sexual Avoidance (ISA) meetings of Sex Addicts Anonymous! Individuals from many different countries participate in the ISA-focused telemeetings and ZOOM video conference meetings, ranging from SAA members who have long-term sobriety to newcomers. Some have worked the Twelve Steps of SAA in order to stop acting out sexually, and are now examining the role of intimacy avoidance in their lives. Others have been drawn to this fellowship specifically because of the ISA-focused meetings. Still others have a spouse or partner whom they suspect struggles with intimacy issues and want to learn more by attending the open ISA meetings. Whatever brings you here, welcome!” ISA Awareness Committee (ISAAC)
ISA meetings
ISA meetings are listed on the International website – saa-recovery.org which lists 20 meetings through the week.
SAAtalk.info list telephone and video meetings and lists many ISA meetings, the list is also available in this PDF: list of ISA meetings.
The international website has a section on Intimacy and Sexual Avoidance [ISA].
ISA literature
- Intimacy Avoidance
- First Step to Intimacy
- Is it Abstinence or is it Anorexia? page 6, Outer Circle for July-August, 2021
Intimacy Avoidance Stories
“Sex addiction is an intimacy disorder, meaning the ability to be grounded in reality and genuinely connected emotionally with another person can be damaged by compulsive sexual behaviors. In addition, some SAA members have found themselves ‘shut down’ sexually in recovery, afraid of sex because of its association in our minds with our addiction or with past sexual trauma, or because of a fear of intimacy and vulnerability.”
(Sex Addicts Anonymous, page 72)
The SAA telemeetings […] focus on applying the 12 Steps to heal from the avoidance of true intimacy […].
From the “ISA Awareness Event #1” announcement