Survey Description:
Pure Life Alliance recently completed a national survey, contacting 200 Christian support groups in 30 states for people struggling with sexual addiction as well as groups for partners of people struggling with sexual addiction. These were all “interactive” groups that use curriculum and discussion as part of the support group format, as opposed to a classic 12-step sharing-only group. One of the questions asked was what curriculum or program each group was using.
Key Findings:
- There were 23 different recovery programs represented in the 200 groups surveyed.
- 81 of the 200 groups, or 40.5%, used multiple programs or curriculum, incorporating new books as needed.
- No specific program was utilized by more than 8.5% of the total groups surveyed.
- It is important to note that most of these 81 groups started out as a specific program, but later incorporated new books and curriculum to add to that original program choice.
- The groups that currently utilize multiple books or curriculum resources tend to be groups that have been around for a number of years.
Discussion:
Dr. Patrick Carnes has perhaps done more research in sex and pornography addiction recovery than anyone else. His findings show that lasting recovery requires three to five years participation in a support group. Our experience at Pure Life Alliance indicates that three years is probably too little for most recovering addicts. While compulsive sexual acting out may stop, deeper issues like trust, self-esteem and healthy relationship skills require at least five years in a support group to develop.
Whether it is three or five years, most programs currently available do not have enough content to last that long. That means a person attending a support group that sticks to a specific curriculum will continually repeat the same content over and over during his or her recovery. While it is good, and even necessary, to go over concepts already learned is it not better to do so from varying points of view to gain deeper insights?
The Body of Christ is made up of all Christians, each member assisting the rest with its own gifts and abilities (Romans 12:4-8). Even the Bible does not limit teaching of the same concepts to one author. The New Testament has four gospel records of Christ from four authors, each emphasizing different aspects of the life of Christ and His message. Likewise, God has gifted numerous men and women with the ability to explain recovery from sexual addiction, each from their own experience and learning. So, why would we, as the Body of Christ, choose only one or two authors to learn from in this critical area?
For example, there are recovery books that are life stories from individuals explaining how they became sex addicts and how they found recovery, helping the reader to relate personally and find hope. There are books that explain the psychology behind addiction and recovery, providing concrete tools. There are also books that approach sex addiction and recovery from the spiritual point of view, helping us see what is required of us in our relationship to God for recovery to occur. Why would we not utilize each of these kinds of resources? Why would we not incorporate more than one author’s perspective from each of these styles?
For this reason, we believe that the most successful support groups, both for sex addicts and for their partners, are those that use a variety of resources for teaching and discussion.