S-Anon — Free Support for Friends & Family of Sex Addicts

S-Anon Family Groups is a free 12-step fellowship for relatives and friends of sexually addicted people. Adapted from the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, S-Anon offers a community where partners, spouses, parents, adult children, and friends can share their experience, strength, and hope and find a path forward — focused on their own recovery rather than on the person with the addiction.

What to Expect

S-Anon meetings typically run about an hour. The format follows the standard 12-step structure: meetings open with the Serenity Prayer, members read S-Anon literature, and the rest of the meeting is open sharing. Members speak in turn about their own experience and how they’re applying the steps to their lives — without naming or focusing on the person whose addiction brought them to the program. The focus is consistently on the member’s own recovery from the effects of someone else’s compulsive sexual behavior. Meetings are held in person at locations across the country, by phone, and on video.

Who This Group Is For

S-Anon is for anyone whose life has been affected by someone else’s sexual addiction or compulsion — whether that person is a spouse, partner, parent, child, sibling, or friend, and whether or not that person is in recovery themselves. The only requirement for membership is that someone’s sexual behavior has affected your life. Members come from every background, relationship configuration, and stage of impact — from people just discovering a partner’s addiction to people who have been in recovery for years.

Why Peer Support Works

Discovering a loved one’s sexual addiction often produces a particular kind of isolation — most people in your life don’t know what’s happening, and the few who do may not know how to help. S-Anon answers that loneliness by putting members in a room with others who understand without needing the backstory. The 12-step framework also gives members a structured way to focus on their own healing and wellbeing — separating their recovery from their loved one’s choices, in a way that often takes years to figure out alone.

How to Join

S-Anon is free; the fellowship is self-supported through member contributions. There are no dues or fees. Find a meeting at sanon.org, which maintains a searchable database of in-person, phone, and online S-Anon meetings worldwide. The site also includes information about the S-Anon program, literature, and guidance for newcomers. Meetings are confidential and open to anyone whose life has been affected by another person’s sexual behavior.