The 12 Traditions of SCA

The founders of Alcoholics Anonymous realized early in the history of that fellowship that the only way recovery can be achieved is if members can tell their stories honestly and openly with other members, people who share the same disease. The willingness required for this level of honesty and openness comes from anonymity, or a lack of differentiation based on one’s life circumstances or social position, and for members to trust that the fellowship has only their best interests at heart. The Twelve Traditions were written as a way of insuring that the recovery of members is the only business of an anonymous 12-step fellowship.

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon SCA unity
2. For our group purpose there is but one authority — a loving God as may be expressed in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
3. The only requirement for SCA membership is a desire to stop having compulsive sex.
4. Each group should be autonomous, except in matters affecting other groups or SCA as a whole.
5. Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the sexual compulsive who still suffers.
6. An SCA group ought never endorse, finance or lend the SCA name to any outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
7. Every SCA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. Sexual Compulsives Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
9. SCA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. SCA has no opinion on outside issues; hence the SCA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, television and films.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

Click here to see how SCA operates with these 12 traditions.

The Twelve Traditions are reprinted and adapted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint and adapt does not mean that Alcoholics Anonymous is in any way affiliated with this program. AA is a program of recovery from alcoholism. The use of the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions in connection with other programs which are patterned after AA, but address other problems, does not imply otherwise.