The following are personal testimonials from others who have gone through the personal coaching process:

"My experience with direct one-on-one coaching with Jon has been one of the most important elements of my recovery process. Some people are (or have become) better listeners, better at rapport and connection, and have heightened intuition. Some counselors, therapists, and coaches have the knowledge, experience and the ‘gift’ to help profound change occur. After many years of professional therapy with many, many therapists and clinicians, I’ve experienced Jon as being the rare combination of all of these. Again and again (and again) I was surprised by Jon’s being ‘present’ with me and skillfully – and quickly – understanding, guiding, coaching me in what seemed like an effortless process of change.

Personally, my evolution continues – I believe – with health and good hope. I have no fear of relapse; I’m proud and pleased to be emotionally connected with my son, daughter, parents and primary job-work contacts – more than ever before. I’m re-establishing my non-recovery social contacts – primarily within my shooting hobby. My awareness of my emotional state at any / every moment, and especially the anxiety quotient that I’ve found to be my ‘base’ cause for emotional escape and medication, is my most powerful tool of change – allowing me the time and chance to: not isolate, seek connection, understand myself, continue to internalize my positive values to where that’s a more automatic and natural process. I am more than hopeful about my ‘recovery’; I’m good with who I am. My weekly sessions with Jon were integral to my change process and surprisingly ‘dovetailed’ as if it were planned with the rest of my recovery involvements and efforts.

The lesson plans here on RN were (and are) important to me; coaching from Jon was frankly the combination of most cost efficient and of the highest efficacy that I’ve ever experienced. Bluntly, Jon’s coaching is a cheap opportunity for world class coaching. If you are serious about change and recovery from sex addiction and you can at all afford it, the $ 99 per month is a ridiculous bargain. If you can’t afford the $ 99 per month (really?) then the RN planned lessons are powerful and effective. A reminder that there are no pop-up adverts, or adverts of any kind on RN; there are no requests for donations – anywhere on RN. Because I think RN is an unmatched and invaluable resource – again, bluntly: donate because you agree. Donate because you – like me – often, continuously, constantly, use RN as a change agent reminding, teaching, helping become a different person. Or don’t ‘donate’: use the paypal to compensate the site for the value of the lessons; reading and sharing you have used to help you – like me – cope.

I’ve read practically everything on RN, including historical threads, to help me transform…
No where – not once – has Jon ever asked for financial support to keep this resource site up and available. I know this is sounding very much like a public radio fund raiser: sorry – I know I would prefer this resource to be available, and I’m thinking you probably do also."

--gunner

"I, like others, did a lot of work on this forum in the workshops and gained incredible insight about myself. This was not enough, however, because my addiction is very smart. In fact, my addiction is an intellectual genius and "gets" all the concepts of the workshops but didn't allow it to be ingrained in me. I have learned that if I don't really "feel" it for myself and truly believe in and understand what true recovery is, I fail again and again. Frankly, I couldn't even see this for myself but I felt like one-on-one coaching was a great idea. Hell, these kinds of things always sound like a good idea...a new and shiny way to recover...yeah, count me in! They have never worked in the past but I kept trying them.

Without rambling too much, I guess it's like looking for the perfect weight loss program. All the theories of these diets are sound and you may lose weight initially, but you gain it back soon. Why is this? Because losing weight and keeping it off is not only about a good diet, it's about a lifestyle change. Once you accept that and make some serious adjustments in your thought process, you find that you can more easily make the right decisions and know automatically that this food is not good for you and that food is. When you reach that point, it's no longer a struggle, you can actually enjoy the food that's good for you.

This is a long-winded way of saying that if you don't fully embrace recovery as, not only a sound theoretical idea, but to fully implement it into your life willingly because you truly believe in it, you will stay on that bumpy road.

When I began working with Jon in the Live Coaching environment, the impact on me personally was profound. There is an accountability in this coaching that is missing from the workshops. I could clear up my confusion over a particular thing I was struggling with instantly. Jon's wealth of knowledge and experience made me feel at ease and he has an uncanny knack of being able to almost finish my sentences.

My biggest downfall on the bumpy road to recovery was feeling isolated, like no one really understood me and, worse, that I was some kind of freak. Just talking with someone who has been through the same thing and knows that there is reason to keep hope alive is priceless.

I am in full recovery now (which means working on myself every single day, of course) but working with Jon gave me enough momentum to really launch my life into a solid new and positive direction.

I cannot recommend live coaching enough."

--Cody2

For me, live coaching has been essential. I went into it thinking it would be about 'do this, try that', etc. However, what Jon has brought to our sessions are ideas, concepts, and feedback that I would always be lacking were it not for the 1:1 format. The 2 biggest areas that I have benefited from are developing a Vision for my life, and learning to have love and compassion for myself. Jon has brought such nuanced care and insight to my situation (and that of my marriage) that I have had my expectations of this process totally shattered. I am used to feeling let down or disappointed by others, not wanting to trust them or put any faith in processes outside of my control. The decision to work with Jon directly has been one of the best decisions I've made, and my wife is incredibly grateful to him as well (beyond words, really) for the 1:1 and the couple's program.

--sumner

I have been working through Jon's system of recovery for quite a few years now. I started by working through all of the workshops and was committed to getting through them very consistently. It was great because I learned a lot about my addictive self and my recovery went very well.

But over the years I would have slips that would lead into binges of addictive behaviour and I found this to be frustrating and very disheartening.

At a certain point I could only do so much work by myself and even though I had a therapist who was very generous she did not have the insights about addiction to help me overcome these slips.

It was with Jon over weekly sessions over a couple of months that I was able to pin down the weak points in my behaviour and "thinking" that were always taking me back to a place where I would "choose" to act out or engage in addictive behaviour.

(I think one of the most critical things that Jon made me see and learn was that I was in a place where I wasn't really being overcome by some mysterious emotional force as it happens when we are in the murk of initial recovery....but I was actually in place where I was "choosing" to act out....I was "choosing" not endure some uncomfortable emotions.....that everything was now in fact some kind of a conscious path. This alone, was a great awakening for me and I could have only been awoken to this by someone in Jon's position.)

I think everyone is different and the big point for me is that I was largely carrying around the weight of my addiction alone. I am not married and not in a relationship..(or wasn't I am presently nurturing one into life very carefully)...and not having someone to look over my behaviour with me to find out where I was "allowing" and "choosing" to act out was incredibly helpful.

I have a quote pinned in front of me at my desk (amongst others) that was stated by Einstien...you know that genius guy who discovered the law of relativity..... It says "a problem cannot be solved by the same mind that created it."

This cannot be better seen in how Jon worked with me "one to one". I had to be totally honest with him and myself during the process but it has now paid off. I'm four months down the road with no major acting out binges and I really feel that I am on my way to health.

It's as if I took a building course over the internet and built this home for myself using all the instructions that were given. But no matter how smart or skillful or willful a person is they are not going to be able to build that "thing" as well as it can be built without the help of someone who's done it before. I really feel that Jon's "one to one" sessions helped me get the final details of my recovery into place.

And I really see my addictive behaviour getting smaller...smaller and smaller in managing my life when it's out of balance.
--bingo

I can attest to the effectiveness of one-on-one coaching with Jon; from the very basic steps of his program all the way into couples coaching. I’m not one for writing testimonials, but if this gets even one person to sign up and seek Jon’s invaluable guidance, then everyone wins.

I have been struggling with compulsive behavior for as long as I can remember. For the last 15 years I was really struggling with sexual addiction in many forms. 10 years ago I was into my second marriage when I discovered chat rooms and quickly had an affair. I sought counseling from a therapist who suggested I attend an SA meeting. I was very far from admitting I needed anything like that. Three years later I was back in the chat rooms stronger than ever having numerous meetings for sex. It became my life. It was my wife who discovered Recovery Nation (then called the Pride Workshop). I was willing to do anything to keep my family together, so I gave it a try, along with seeing a councilor and attending all types of SA and SLAA meetings every day. I understood the words and “worked my program” but found that Jon’s program was not well received or supported by my 12 step praising therapist or the group I was attending. I worked many of the Recovery Nation exercises out of obligation, not because I wanted to or thought that it would help.

For seven years I went to at least one 12-step meeting a week, left Recovery nation and pretended to be well into recovery. Like so many, the 12-step program helped me feel like I was recovering and was successful in stop behavior, but did nothing for improving life skills. With this lack of value based decision making, I eventually found my way back onto the internet and chat rooms. I finally figured out I needed to try a new recovery plan, so I returned to Recovery nation with a renewed motivation.

My Wife and I both starting meeting with Jon separately then together. I cannot say enough about the advantage and value of having one-on-one coaching. There were times when I thought I had it “understood” only to have Jon tell me how wrong I was or how slowly I was progressing. His straight up yet at times tongue-in-cheek evaluations of my behaviors were invaluable to me to “getting it”. This program goes beyond stopping compulsive behavior; Recovery nation is life changing, and for many it is life saving. Without my coaching time I could have completed the workshop, but it would have taken me a lot longer, if ever, to “get it”. My wife and I use the tools Jon provided us daily and have weekly monitoring sessions to identify areas we need to improve.
--newlife

Jon

what can I say? Your support and monthly coaching was an absolute life saver. At times it has most definitely felt that dramatic. At the very least your support saved our marriage.

The lessons were fantastic at opening my mind to the true nature of my problem and the way out of it. But it was the one to one coaching that gave me the opportunity to embed that learning, to avoid the misunderstandings, to be encouraged, to be challenged, to practice being vulnerable, and to learn in a safe environment.

You have shown me the way to living life as a whole person. The change in my life has been like being born again... or like having been blind and then seeing for the first time. Suddenly I get it. Not that it all happened at once, or overnight. But rather, you showed me the path to walk & I'm walking in confidence ... and enjoying the journey. The path has had its challenges. But with every potential stumbling block my wife & I have turned them into stepping stones up onto a higher level. And those 'stones' were not as a result of me acting out but rather just 'stuff' that we had to work through as part of my emotional maturity journey.

I know that I will not return to acting out. The addiction was an old me, not the new me that I now know.

Like others, I had tried to sort my life out in the past, but with only limited success. The keys that you provided me, the keys that set me free, were understanding value based living, the need to be emotionally aware, to recognize that all emotions are healthy : its in how we manage them that we have the choice to be healthy or not, and the need to allow myself to be vulnerable & take emotional risks in order to grow.

I wholeheartedly commend your services to anyone who is genuinely wanting to be free from SA.

To anyone who might be hesitating because of the cost - Don't! If you're genuine & committed to being free then coaching is the answer. If you want to be free the cost is an irrelevance. Jon is not seeking riches from this, he is just looking to make enough to keep the site running.
--blueelvis