Sex and Porn Addiction
Sexual addiction is defined as any sexually-related, compulsive behavior which interferes with normal living and causes severe stress on family, friends, loved ones, and one’s work environment. Sexual addiction has other names: sexual dependency, sexual compulsivity, sexual mania, uncontrollable sex appetite, to name a few. What ever you call it, sexual addiction feels out of control and can dominate a person’s life.
A simple way to question the presence of addiction is to ask two questions:
- Is there a loss of control or an inability
to stop the behavior? - Does the behavior continue despite
adverse consequences?
Individuals suffering from sexual addiction are willing to sacrifice what they cherish most in order to preserve and continue their unhealthy behavior.
Concerned you may have issues with a sex or porn addiction? Click the link below to complete a short survey. This survey is designed to assist in the assessment of sexually compulsivity and may indicate the presence of sex addiction. *
CLICK HERE to take the short survey.
*This is not a replacement for professional assessment and treatment.
Intimacy Issues and Relationship Building
Intimacy is an essential part of a healthy love relationship. Intimacy can be defined as the ability to share of one’s self with another. Intimacy requires a level of vulnerability to connect on spiritual, emotional and physical levels. We have come to believe that sexual addiction develops because of an underlying problem with intimacy. Those with sexual addiction often have issue with trust, fear connection and/or shy away from vulnerability. Sexually “acting out” becomes the way the addict can seek out intimacy without emotional connection.
Partners of sexual addiction often feel, sad, angry, hurt and confused along with many other emotions. Partners often experience symptoms of trauma from suffering sexual and/or emotional betrayal from their loved one.
Treatment for intimacy issues and sexual addiction focuses on rebuilding relationships. Clients will work toward improving healthy communication, repairing trust, and validating feelings of betrayal while working toward reconnection on all levels of intimacy.
Treatment For Sexual Issues
We begin by sitting down with our clients and in a setting of complete confidentiality, we carefully listen and help our clients to become clear about what their sexual addiction issue is about. We then develop a treatment plan that is structured and may include individual therapy, group therapy, and community support approaches for healing and recovery.
We utilize the approach developed by Patrick Carnes PhD, including the 30 tasks of sexual recovery, trauma work, repairing the damage done by betrayal, and teaching our clients how to be intimate emotionally, relationally and sexually. Our clinicians are Certified Sexual Addiction Therapists credentialed by the International Institute of trauma and Addictions Therapists (IITAP-CSAT) who specialize in treating sexual addiction and sexual anorexia.
We also are experienced in helping couples to recover from the trauma of infidelity and betrayal by intervening to restore fidelity, trust, and develop intimacy in the relationship.
