Being a member of S.A.A. I know that I share a common problem and a common solution with my fellow members.  And I know that the primary purpose of S.A.A. is to carry the message of recovery to the addict that still suffers.  And S.A.A. much like all of the fellowships is based upon the foundation of sex addicts helping other sex addicts.  If all of a sudden S.A.A. were to offer professional help, it would through everything off balance.  It would divide the group in half.  There would be members that were providing help and members that were receiving help.  There would be members who could afford help and members who could not afford help.  As a result we would end up with a hierarchy of members one above the other not to mention members who would not be getting the help that they need.  This solution clearly would not work.  To avoid these issues, S.A.A. must remain nonprofessional.  The message must be carried by the fellow addict.

Keep in mind that professionals in their practice often speak of recovery as it relates to sex addiction, however, there is a clear distinction between working with their clients and the 12^th step work of carrying the message from one addict to the other.  This is why this 8^th step is so important.  For me, professional help has long been a part of my history.   However professional help alone has never worked for me.  It was only when I came into the program of S.A.A. and started to work with other sex addicts and my sponsor that I was finally able to hear the message of recovery and start to change my life.  I needed to hear it from other addicts.  I needed to hear how I related to their stories and how I was not alone and not unique and not different.  When I walked in this program for the first time I felt like I could speak openly and be understood.  This is because I was speaking to other addicts who were like me.  Today I still seek professional help, however, it is combined with the program that I work in S.A.A. with my fellow addicts, my sponsor and my Power. 

As our groups grow and our fellowship grows, we have found that it has become necessary to hire professionals for their services.  Some members may question why we need to do this.  I know from the 7^th Tradition that we do have expenses and we need to be responsible for ourselves.  In much the same way, in this part of Tradition 8, we are taking responsibility for the fellowship.  We are ensuring that the work that needs to be done is done so that the fellowship is here for the addict that still suffers.  We do this by employing these special workers to do this work that we cannot do by volunteer alone.  I am grateful that we are able to support ourselves through our collections so that the fellowship can thrive and be here for me and for the newcomer.