Sex addiction
Although this is not the case for all sexual addicts, for many addicts their sexual addiction has its roots in trauma endured during their childhood. Sex addicts were usually emotionally physically or sexually abused.
Sex Addiction Causes and Factors
Type of sex addiction
There are six different types of sex addicts. Common to all types is a basic compulsion to act-out on sexual impulses. The rarest type is the Spiritual sex addict; the most common is the Biological. The four other types include Psychological, Trauma-based, Sexually Anorexic, and Mood-disordered. Biological sex addition is not only the most common but it is the simplest to heal with a solid behavioral treatment plan. Sexually Anorexic, Mood-disordered, and Spiritual sex addicts are less prevalent, but each feature unique aspects.
Sex Addiction Treatment
The good news is all types of sex addiction can be treated. Treatment will entail some form of counseling (individual psychotherapy. The goal of therapy will not revolve around abolishing sex altogether but rather to find alternate ways to cope with stress, anxiety or emotional pain. In other
The treatment of a sex addiction should consist of:
- Handling old pain, traumas
- Contact with others
- Expression of all feelings
- Reprogramming of dysfunctional messages from the family of origin
- Deal with shame
- Loving, supporting sponsoring
- Training new coping strategy
12-Step Programs
Twelve-step programs, such as Sexaholics Anonymous, apply principles similar to those used in other addiction programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy
This approach looks at what triggers and reinforces actions related to sexual addiction and looks for methods of short-circuiting the process. Treatment approaches include teaching addicts to stop sexual thoughts by thinking about something else; substituting sexual behavior with some other behavior, such as exercising or working out; and preventing the relapse of addictive behavior.
Interpersonal Therapy
People addicted to sex often have significant emotional baggage from their early lives. Traditional “talk therapy” can be helpful in increasing self control and in treating related mood disorders and effects of past trauma.
Group Therapy
Group therapy typically consists of a healthcare professional working with a group of between six and10 patients. Working with other addicts allows you to see that your problem is not unique. It also enables you to learn about what works and what doesn’t from others’ experiences, and draw on others’ strengths and hopes. A group format is ideal for confronting the denial and rationalizations common among addicts. Such confrontation from other addicts is powerful not only for the addict being confronted, but also for the person doing the confronting, who learns how personal denial and rationalization sustained addiction.
Medication
Recent research suggests that certain psychiatric medications — namely antidepressants — may be useful in treating sexual addiction. In addition to treating mood symptoms common among sex addicts, these medications may have some benefit in reducing sexual obsessions.
If you are seeking help for sex addiction, there are a number of treatment programs available. The best-known programs in the United States include Sierra Tucson in Arizona, Tulane University’s program in New Orleans and the Menninger Clinic’s program in Topeka, Kan. Most of these programs approach sex addiction with the same strategies that have proven effective in treating chemical dependency.
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