Health Forums

Treatment
Of course, we all have emotional and social reasons for having sex as well as the physical pleasure it might bring us. Sexual addicts are distinguished by their compulsion to have sex under even the most risky and abusive situations. For many people sexual addiction has its roots in a family history of sexual abuse and addiction. Its treatment requires some form of counseling. Therapy options are numerous, including twelve step programs, psychotherapy and support groups. It is recommended that the partners of addicts also seek counseling either independently or with the addict. The treatment of sexual addiction aims not so much to bring all sex to an end but rather to place sex into the context of healthy relationships and to encourage sex that is mutual and not compulsive.

Treatment for problems that appear to be about 'sex addiction' can involve recovering a sense of the values, beliefs and commitments as well as the hopes and ambitions a person holds. It is very difficult for people to move forward when they adopt understandings of problems as being located within their person. Through these conversations in therapy we come to new understandings and re-namings of the problem. The 'sex addiction' problem might be renamed, for example, 'Dishonesty' or 'Exclusion' or as problems with the management of 'Frustration'. Through externalising the problems in each case we are able to start developing new relationships with each of these problems. The difficulty when a problem is seen as being internalised within a person is that it becomes difficult or sometimes impossible to develop a new relationship with a problem.

The construction of 'sex addiction' as an psychological state is one which can be questioned. Every person's situation is different and deserves a personal response.