What tools are in place to help someone dealing sexual addiction
Asked by Dhara
Answered
10/10/2022
In spirit of openness and honesty, I am not a Christian therapist or a practicing Christian. However I would say that I do have a good understanding of Christian beliefs and practice, and above all upmost respect for all religious beliefs and commitments. I believe that our spiritual health can play an important role in our overall wellbeing and functioning in life.
Sex addiction can be a powerful and distressing cycle to find yourself in, and understandably would cause compounded difficulty when opposed to your beliefs and values.
In my professional experience, I have worked with clients experiencing similar issues and devised a program of treatment for them to improve and break their negative dependancies. Addiction of any type is what I often call an accidental negative coping strategy, and by that I mean a set of thoughts, behaviours or routines we get in to over time which end up becoming a way to cope or distract from other issues, but then becomes an issue in itself.
Often the treatment program can last on average 8 sessions, but focuses on breaking the reliance on the unwanted addiction behaviours and strengthening and building positive affirming coping strategies. Alongside that it is usually appropriate to work on resolving underlying issues so that relapse is less likely.
In addition, a good trusting therapeutic relationship that allows clients to confront their difficulties but in a safe honest and supported way is often really cathartic towards minimising a problem and being able to clarify what is at the root of it. I endeavor to always be non-judgmental and respectful of clients individual personalities, needs and lifestyles. Having a problem does not make someone a bad person and neither does struggling with a negative situation, it just means (to me) that something at some point has taken a misguided turn, but with the right guidance and want to change, that path can be corrected over time to the direction in which you'd prefer to be in.
I hope I have been clear on my position for your question, I can be contacted through the platform if you wish to discuss any further.
