Love and Sex Addiction Treatment
Believe it or not love and sex can be addictive. Love and sex can also be destructive. Well, at least socially, love and sex can be destructive. Love and sex can become compulsive just like substance abuse and the compulsion is based on physical and psychological arousal. Success when it comes to recovery from love and sex addiction starts with stress management.
Love and Sex Addicts
Love addicts go through life with desperate hopes and constant fears. Love addicts fear rejection, pain, unknown experiences and have little faith in their ability or right to inspire love. Instead love addicts, sit and wait, and wish for love which is possibly their least familiar real experience. Love addicts tend to have symptoms along these lines: love is all consuming and obsessive, is inhibited, they avoid risk or change, their relationships lack true intimacy, their relationships are manipulative, they are dependent or parasitic, and/or demand the loved one’s attention.
- Sex addicts lack the ability to control or postpone sexual feelings and actions, with the need for using sex to replace intimacy. Eventually, this thrill seeking becomes more important than family, jobs, personal health and safety. Sex addicts tend to have symptoms along these lines: they have a preoccupation with sex involving continual fantasies about sexual prospects which can trigger episodes of promiscuity, they have a ritual or preferred sexual activity or situation which they often repeat, they compulsively seek continual engagement in sexual activity despite negative consequences, they have guilt and shame over their inability to control their behavior, and might have other behavioral problems.
Love and Sex Addiction Treatment
Overcoming a love and sex addiction begins with merely recognizing that the love and sex addiction is out of control. This means that the love and sex addict must take a long, hard look at themselves and their problems, whether they are emotional, physical or financial. For love and sex addicts that are in relationships they will want to see professional assistance that is specialized specifically for those suffering from love and sex addiction.
Love and sex addiction treatment should involve a few things in order for the love and sex addicts to have success in overcoming their compulsion. These things are:
- A commitment to abstinence
- Rebuilding relationships
- Managing stress
- Self-help groups and tools
Some love and sex addiction treatments follow the format that is used for alcoholics and addicts. This is because addicts and alcoholics are viewed as trapped in a negative cycle and this is very similar for love and sex addicts. The love and sex addiction treatment model is based on 12 step programs and focuses on three elements:
- Use of sex
- Self-judgment
- Avoidance behaviors
The elements of the love and sex addiction cycle are impacted by a process love and sex addiction treatment uses including:
- A therapeutic environment
- A thorough assessment
- A group process
- Education
- Self and Peer assessment
It is absolutely essential that a love and sex addiction treatment creates an environment that supports the therapeutic process. Clients at love and sex addiction treatment must be provided with an opportunity to explore their self-judgments without fear of the judgment of others and they feel they are listened to with empathy as well as respect.
If you or someone you love is looking for help with love and sex addiction or needs love and sex addiction treatment, please call toll-free 1-888-672-4435