Hello,

My husband is having a reaaly rough time. He has been in therapy for a little over a year and he has not made much progress. I have been aksing him to consider a group situation. Can anyone please share their experiences. Thank you.

HelpMyStephen,

Has your husband considered SIA (Survivors of Incest Anonymous) meetings? Our defintion of incest is any sexual encounter by a family member or extended family member (parent, sibling, aunt/uncle, teacher, coach, leader of some sort) that damaged the child. I attend one weekly and I find it very helpful. The meeting format precludes "cross talk" or commenting on another person's sharing. No advice, no comments, just listening. I'm at the point where I'll ask some people for advice after the meeting, but during the meeting we hold to those rules.

My group is mixed, male and female survivors, gay and straight. Some meetings aren't, but your husband may be in luck. I had to call and wait for a mailing of meeting contacts to arrive. NYC meetings are listed online , including a men only meeting on Fridays. Maybe they picked Friday to avoid conflicts with Giants/Jets games!

I hope that's helpful.

Joe