Hey Everyone!

I am happy to announce that this coming

Sunday June 18, from 10:45-11:30 am EST*

a new cycle for the SSA (same-sex attractions) conference call will begin!

If you struggle with SSA please join us, especially if you have never attended these calls before. If you already have and want to go through the cycle again, you are no doubt welcome to join too!

Keep in mind, this is a new time on Sunday (not Tuesday like in the past) for these conference calls.

These calls aim to provide a balanced, clear, and understandable perspective regarding what men can do to move beyond their struggle of unwanted same-sex attractions. Some of the discussions include: why we may develop sexual attractions altogether, how to reduce lust towards men and reach a better sense of peace and wholeness within ourselves, what kind of process can we take to ultimately develop attractions for the opposite sex, and how we can all go on this journey with respect, authenticity, and integrity within Torah and religious values.

You can find all of the call details at this link: https://guardyoureyes.com/component/zoo/item/ssa-conference

May we all have much hatzlacha and bracha moving forward and I look forward to having you on our new cycle this coming Sunday!

-Jonathan Hoffman, MSW - Leader of GYE SSA Conference Calls

(If you have any questions about this call, please don't hesitate to contact me at jhoffmantherapy@gmail.com

My name is Boruch and I'm a regular chasidishe bucher learning in Israel.

About a year ago, I read an article in the Mishpacha magazine (Lifelines section) about a man who struggled with internet pornography and found the site called GYE and recovered through it by keeping in touch with other members who were also struggling. At the time, I scoffed at the idea: "Yeah, some person was struggling with shmiras einayim and got help."

Now, let me give you a bit of a background. I was sexually abused when I was 11-12 by a boy in my class. Happens to be, I'm not angry at him, although he had introduced me to sex. I was hooked from the first moment, and from there, I continued my journey into a whole "other life" which became my main life that I lived for 7 years. It involved me abusing my younger brother, touching my cleaning lady inappropriately without permission, and acting out with anyone willing to... Any one of my cousins/friends who slept over at my house was subject to my abuse, and when that wasn't available, I would just masturbate. And above all this was me feeling like a total idiot, a piece of crap, and definitely not a person deserving of any good. I knew I was harming myself and others but I couldn't stop. I was in such a bad place after trying therapists, mechanchim, rebbes, etc. that I decided to give GYE a shot. I logged on and up came a very fine fellow who chatted with me and eventually pushed/forced me to go to my first SA meeting. I returned from the meeting on a high and haven't stopped going ever since.

Why am I sending you this? Because last week I reached 6 months of sobriety in SA. I wouldn't have dreamed in my entire life that I could reach this status, and I'm eternally grateful to GYE for enabling me to do it.

Thank you so much,

With best wishes

A grateful recovering addict

GYE is pleased to announce that Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT) and specialist in the area of Sex Addiction Induced Complex Partner Trauma, "Hope Ray", has presented a lecture to the GYE wives of addicts on Monday, June 12, from 9-11pm EST.

I always wished I could save that horrible, sickening feeling of shame and regret after the aveirah in a container, and then I could open it the next time I am thinking about acting out, and it would remind me and wake me up like a cold shower and surely prevent me from doing the aveirah.

So recently I was going through a tremendous Aliyah, since Purim when I bawled my eyes out to HaShem to help me fight my yetzer hora and I have been flying high the past 2 weeks... until 48 hours ago when the yetzer hora suddenly got the better of me and caught me off guard, and I came plummeting down from my Aliyah, and bang! I hit the ground hard...

I felt sick and full of regret the second after and, bH, I remembered my wish. I quickly grabbed my iPhone, went to voice memos, pressed record and started to record my feelings of that moment. I started crying and begged myself: "Nat, what have you done??!! Oy Nat, see how stupid you feel! Was it even worth it?! The 5 seconds of excitement for the sick feeling you have now?? Was it really worth it??? Why would you do this to yourself?? Just think for a second!!! Stop!!! Go take a cold shower! Daven to HaShem right this second to help you! Say tikkun Haklali ... read some GYE stories of chizuk ... but do NOT do what you're about to do! DON'T!!!

"I feel so sick and depressed right now, so trapped and sad, full of regret! I promise, that's not what you want to feel, so WAKE up and STOP and you will thank me tomorrow morning!"

Then I stopped the recording and saved it as "DON'T LET THE YETZER HORA WIN!"

Now, when I was about to act out again this morning, I was able to play my voice memo and hearing myself with all these sickening feelings of regret, I was able to awaken myself and it prevented me from doing the aveirah!

I don't know how long this will work, but for now it's golden and thought I should share it with you.

You could record yourself or even a rebbi or someone you are afraid/embarrassed of and then play it whenever you need to give yourself a quick reminder/mussar.

Do you have a problem with obsessive and compulsive porn use? Have you seriously tried the tools on GYE and feel that you are not getting better? Maybe it’s time to consider joining a 12-Step program.

Porn Anonymous (PA)
If you’re compulsively acting-out with pornography and masturbation we suggest you explore joining Porn Anonymous (PA). If you need help deciding whether to join PA, call Michael at 347-699-2368, or email help@pornanonymous.org to schedule a time to talk. For more information visit pornanonymous.org (Hebrew: p-a.org.il / Yiddish: pa-yid.org).

Sexaholics Anonymous (SA)
If your compulsive acting-out has progressed beyond the screen (with other people, paid sexual services, etc.) we suggest you explore joining Sexaholics Anonymous (SA). To figure out if SA is for you, call Dov at 917-414-8205, or email Dov at dov@guardyoureyes.org to schedule a time to talk. For more information visit www.sa.org.