Our Meetings, Our Fellowship
** Due to community centre closures by the City of Ottawa, in light of the ongoing prevention for the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, all in-person meetings have been cancelled until further notice.
As a temporary measure, some groups have established virtual meetings. For information on when these meetings are being held and how to connect, please contact us via our phone line at 613-786-1060 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You may also use either of these to reach out to us for support.
Those seeking to reach out are still encouraged to call the SAA Ottawa Phoneline 613-786-1060. Alternatively, there are numerous phone meetings via the International Service Organization which can be found at http://saatalk.org or online meetings at http://saaonline.org. Further updates will be posted to this page as the situation develops. **
| 08:00 PM - 09:30 PM | Hope & Recovery Overbrook Community Centre 33 Quill Street |
Open To All Men & Women Seeking Help Closed to visitors and public |
PLEASE CALL THE INFO LINE IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND THE MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME.
| 19h00 PM - 20h30 PM |
De la honte à la grâce Centre McNabb 180, rue Percy |
Ouvert à tous les hommes et femmes francophone cherchant de l'aide Fermé aux visiteurs et le public FRENCH FORMAT MEETING ONLY |
VEUILLEZ APPELEZ LA LIGNE INFO SI VOUS PRÉVOYEZ PARTICIPER À LA RENCONTRE POUR LA PREMIÈRE FOIS.
| 08:00 PM - 09:30 PM | New Hope St. Stephens Presbyterian Church Jean Sparks Rm, 2nd Floor 579 Parkdale Ave. (at Sherwood Ave.) |
Open To All Men & Women Seeking Help Closed to visitors and public |
PLEASE CALL THE INFO LINE IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND THE MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME.
| 08:00 PM - 09:30 PM |
A Gentle Path St. Stephens Presbyterian Church Jean Sparks Rm, 2nd Floor 579 Parkdale Ave. (at Sherwood Ave.) |
Open To All Men & Women Seeking Help Closed to visitors and public |
PLEASE CALL THE INFO LINE IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND THE MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME.
| 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM |
Answers In The Heart Jack Purcell Community Centre 2nd Floor 320 Jack Purcell Lane (off Elgin Street) |
Open To All Men & Women Seeking Help Closed to visitors and public |
PLEASE CALL THE INFO LINE IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND THE MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME.
Meetings are at the heart of the SAA fellowship. At meetings we emerge from our shame, secrecy, and fear, into a community of people who share the common goal of freedom from sex addiction. They give us the opportunity to talk about our lives and our addiction with other sex addicts, people who have had similar experiences and understand the problems we face. Attending our first SAA meeting is a crucial step in moving away from isolation into fellowship, and ultimately into recovery.
For many of us, our first meeting was a freeing experience. We sat among others like us, and heard their stories. It did not seem to matter if we identified with everyone's behaviors. We were often amazed to find other people honestly sharing their challenges around sex addiction. As we withnessed their honesty and openness, we felt invited to speak candidly about ourselves. Revealing our sex addiction to others gives us a sense of freedom and relief, even if we initially felt some fear or resistance.
An SAA group consists of two or more individuals who, using the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of SAA, meet regularly for the purpose of recovering from their addictive sexual behavior. At our meetings, we read SAA literature and share our experience, strength, and hope with each other, focusing on how the SAA program of recovery works in our lives.
SAA meetings are run by members. There are no professsional or outside facilitators. We meet as equals: sex addicts helping one another to achieve sexual sobriety and to practice a new way of life. We all contribute to making our meetings places that foster our recovery and carry the SAA message to the sex addict who still suffers. Our fellow members depend upon us, as we depend on them.
Because of the sensitive nature of sexual addiction, many of our groups are "closed," meaning that only those with a desire to stop addictive sexual behavior may attend. Anyone else interested in finding out about SAA may attend "open" meetings. While we all strive for sexual sobriety, its achievement is not a requirement for attendance or participation. All participation is voluntary. We are not required to speak if we don't want to. Just by listening we can learn how other members become honest, confront their addiction, find support from fellow addicts, and practice the program. We can learn how others have faced problems that are similar to ours, and how they have used the tools of the program to deal with them. Members can have any religious belief, or no belief at all. All sex addicts recovery are welcome.
NOTE: All SAA - Ottawa meetings are currently "closed" groups and are not open to the general public at large. If you are seeking general information on SAA, please contact us via email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
We strive to practice anonymity and confidentiality, so that the meeting will be a safe place for each and every sex addict. We generally use only our first names in the group, to help ensure anonymity. Whom we meet or what is said in a meeting is treated as confidential and is not discussed with non-group members.
It takes some courage to show up at our first meetings. We may fear being recognized at a meeting by someone we know. This can be awkward, but it's helpful to remember that when we acted out, we risked consequences greater than any embarrasment we might experience at a meeting. Eventually, discomfort gives way to a sense of belonging and a feeling of relief that there are others like us.