Sexual Addiction Therapy
“True strength is found in facing the battles within and overcoming the desires that once held you captive.”
Are You Struggling With The Symptoms Of Sexual Addiction?
Has an unhealthy relationship with your own sexuality been affecting your romantic relationship or your life as a whole? Have you or your partner been negatively impacted by any of the following symptoms or behaviors:
- Physical or emotional infidelity?
- Excessive pornography consumption?
- Risky or unsafe sexual behavior?
Perhaps you’ve also noticed yourself isolating from family and friends, withdrawing from social events, or spending more time alone than with loved ones. Maybe your sex addiction has made it hard to connect with others and you’ve found yourself abandoning or neglecting meaningful relationships. For the first time, perhaps you’re thinking that it’s time to get support from a therapist who’s trained to work with sex addiction.
Sexual Addiction Functions As A Maladaptive Coping Mechanism
The cycle of sexual addiction is often rooted in past trauma or current problems with work or home life. You may be engaging in these behaviors because of larger stressors in your life and using sex or pornography as an unhealthy coping mechanism for other issues.
In addition to that, you may have experienced trouble sleeping, eating, or managing your daily routine and responsibilities. Perhaps you’ve become bombarded by intrusive thoughts or flashbacks to negative sexual experiences. You may be unable to control or regulate your sexual experiences and consumption of pornography no matter how hard you try.
Although the situation may seem hopeless at times, the reality is that you are not alone, and you have more resources for recovery than you may realize. Sex addiction therapy with Wild Ethos Counseling can help you identify, manage, and recover from these destructive patterns, so you can finally experience the life and relationship that you deserve.
Sexual Addiction Is More Common Than You Might Think
Because our culture is so focused on instant gratification, many completely bypass some of the most meaningful aspects of creating something special with another human being. Because sex isn’t necessarily dependent on mental or emotional connection, some simply approach it as just another form of instant gratification to be consumed.
Sexual behavior can become problematic when it takes the form of an addiction—when it becomes unhealthy, pathological, and causes emotional distress. And unfortunately, this dynamic actually far too common. For example, according to the Mayo Clinic, between “6 and 8 percent of U.S. adults could be classified as addicted to sex” (1). Needless to say, many people would benefit from seeing a trustworthy professional who is trained to work on the intersection between sexual and mental health.
Technology And Other Factors Often Contribute To Sexual Addiction
It’s no secret that technology like the internet, smartphones, and social media have played a major role in a larger decline in meaningful, in-person relationships. On top of this, the pandemic also pushed many essential human interactions from in-person to remote. In essence, we are increasingly trying to replace physical, mental, and emotional intimacy with hardware, and the consequences of this still remain to be seen.
Counseling can help with that. Similar to how a meaningful relationship can help you feel more connected, your interaction with your sex addiction counselor can also help you feel supported and understood in your journey. With sexual addiction therapy at Wild Ethos Counseling, you can build toward a healthier and happier self and enjoy a healthier, more balanced relationship with sex.
Therapy Can Help You Overcome Sexual Addiction
When you find yourself in the throes of any form of addiction, it can be easy to simply lose hope and give up. And yet, like other addictions, sexual addiction can still be managed and even overcome with the right form of support. Your past actions do not define you, but you can do the work so you can be proud of your future actions.
Sexual addiction therapy can help you gain insight into your symptoms and behaviors, as well as find better ways to cope with and manage the core issues at play. With the nonjudgmental help of a sex addiction therapist who gets it, you can rebuild the important relationships in your life as well as your relationship with yourself.
An Approach To Therapy That Will Work For You
Your sex addiction therapist will primarily employ Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) work as treatment for your symptoms, while also leaning on other aspects of mindfulness and emotional regulation as needed. IFS can help you identify all the different “parts” that make up your personality so that you can recognize how these parts come into contact with each other. For instance, part of you may rely on sex as a means of escapism from the problems in your life. IFS seeks to help you understand how this part impacts your life and how you can regulate it more effectively going forward.
Counseling can also teach you to identify and respond to your emotions in the moment, as opposed to being hardwired toward reactionary responses to your triggers. You can break the chains of addiction by implementing strategies that seek connection instead of isolation and that also seek to have your needs met by the real people in your life who want to meet them.
And we are confident you will find that the sexual gratification that you were chasing is nothing compared to the sexual intimacy, emotional closeness, and physical safety that can be provided by a committed and meaningful relationship with someone you love. A huge part of sex addiction counseling involves working toward a meaningful and loving relationship, and that starts by applying the practical skills and strategies that we teach you in therapy.
You May Still Have Some Questions Or Concerns About Sex Addiction Therapy…
I’m hesitant about the cost of sex addiction therapy.
Our notions of “cost” can come in many forms. The truth is that there is no actual substitute for physical, emotional, and spiritual connection between two human beings, and the larger cost of not having that can itself prove substantial.
I’m worried that therapy will make things worse.
Therapy forces you to take a look at yourself and focuses on healing the root causes of your symptoms. The therapeutic process is not about removing problems—it is about scrubbing the wound and facilitating healing. In this way, the right approach to therapy can help ensure that therapy doesn’t trigger your symptoms or make you feel worse.
I’m concerned that it will take too long for therapy to make a difference.
You’re not entirely wrong—it will take some time to sift through your life and your identity. But would you rather engage in this introspection five, ten, or twenty years from now? Therapy allows you to write your life story now, on your own terms.
You Can Get To A Healthier, More Fulfilled Place In Life
If you are coping with the impacts of sex or porn addiction, therapy with Wild Ethos Counseling can help you build a healthier and more fulfilling relationship with your sexuality, your partner, and yourself.
Please call us at 931-539-0373 or utilize our contact page to set up a complimentary, 15-minute phone consultation session to start rewriting your story today.
(1) https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/does-society-have-a-sex-addiction-problem
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