Partners in Process Support Groups provide a safe place of healing for women who have been affected by their husband’s or partner’s sexual brokenness. These support groups give women the opportunity to walk through the Twelve Step process in Christian community.
If you have never been a part of a recovery group it can be difficult to know what to look for. The last thing you need is to land yourself in a group that generates more relational problems in your life. Where do you begin?
Here is a quick list of qualities you can use as a guide when looking for a healthy recovery group. These qualities can be found in groups for addicts seeking recovery and their spouse/partners seeking healing.
1. Like-Minded
Having a common foundation upon which to stand. That foundation may be spiritual or not, it may be based upon the Twelve Steps, or sharing a book study.
2. Supports a Specific Audience
Members of the group have strong commonality in relation to the addiction. For example: the Partners in Process groups are specific to women/wives of men who struggle with sexual addiction and brokenness. They are not an addict in these ways, rather are looking for help with their brokenness and codependency.
3. Fix-it Free
Members focus on their own growth and spiritual development. They refrain from giving advice and attempting to fix another woman’s struggles. Members learn from one another through sharing their journey, attentive listening and non-judgement.
4. Safety & Structure
Group meetings provide a structure for facilitating emotional safety of the members. The meeting’s rhythm, guidelines for sharing and listening, become reliable ways members foster safety, honesty, and trust in each other and the healing process.
5. See and Be Seen
Members are allowed to come as they are, to bring the pain and mess, to honor the steps forward and fumbling backwards. It is a rare environment where people collectively grow in their ability to honestly share the truth of themself with people who consistently care for them without judgement or expectation.
6. Encouragement
Members offer each other meaningful encouragement through active listening, honest sharing, and unconditional support. When groups include people at different stages in the healing process this quality is amplified. Members resonate with the struggles of those in earlier stages and receive hope from members further down the road.
7. Humble Leadership
Groups are led by one or more people who have gained experience and wisdom as a result of actively walking their own recovery journey for several years. They know well the challenges inherent in recovery and have a pure desire to guide others along their unique pathway. Leaders recognize recovery is not a one-time process, rather a continually unfolding journey.
8. Community Building
Meetings are where valuable connections begin. Many groups also offer additional ways to connect and foster community building. This may include: time after meetings to talk informally, offering support via group chat / emails, online message boards, or private Facebook groups. Through these connections members are able to ask for, given and receive support in the day-to-day realities of recovery.
By Karen Crawford
Prodigals International
Since its beginning in 2000, Prodigals’ International and its Homecoming Program has helped and supported hundreds of men achieve freedom from the bonds of sexual addiction throughout the United States and Canada. Through its tested and proven Christ-centered 12-Step sexual addiction recovery support groups, Prodigals has been on the forefront of leading men to healing, restoration, and sexual wholeness.
Partners in Process, the Prodigals program for the spouses of sex addicts, provides a unique 12-Step recovery process that supports women in their own healing from the effect of their husband’s sexual addiction. Partners in Process parallels the Homecoming program and its support groups provide a practical place for renewal, empathy, and encouragement.
