What is Sexual Addiction?
Sex addiction is defined as any sexually-related, compulsive behavior which interferes with normal living and causes severe stress on family, friends, loved ones, and one’s work environment.
Sexual addiction has been called sexual dependency and sexual compulsivity. By any name, it is a compulsive behavior that completely dominates the addict’s life. Sexual addicts make sex a priority more important than family, friends, and work. Sex becomes the organizing principle of addict’s lives. They are willing to sacrifice what they cherish most in order to preserve and continue their unhealthy behavior. Read more about how we treat sex addiction in L.A.
“Like an alcoholic unable to stop drinking, sexual addicts are unable to stop their self-destructive sexual behavior. Family breakups, financial disaster, loss of jobs, and risk to life are the painful themes of their stories.
Sex addicts come from all walks of life – they may be ministers, physicians, homemakers, factory workers, salespersons, secretaries, clerks, accountants, therapists, dentists, politicians, or executives, to name just a few examples. Most were abused as children – sexually, physically, and/or emotionally. The majority grew up in families in which addiction already flourished, including alcoholism, compulsive eating, and compulsive gambling. Most grapple with other addictions as well, but they find sex addiction the most difficult to stop.
Much hope nevertheless exists for these addicts and their families. Sex addicts have shown an ability to transform a life of self-destruction into a life of self-care, a life in chaos and despair into one of confidence and peace.”
- Patrick J. Carnes, Ph.D. Author of Out of the Shadows
Self Tests
Recommended Reading
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Erotic Intelligence: Igniting Hot, Healthy Sex While in Recovery From Sex Addiction "To discover and know one's authentic sexuality is to be fully alive and a means to truly know oneself. I wrote Erotic Intelligence to guide and re-focus the quest for the wholeness, self-knowledge and healing that I believe sex addicts are seeking and lost sight of along the way." - Alexandra Katehakis "I consider this book a great gift to all recovering addicts and their partners who will benefit from its instruction and an impressive, effective resource for those who help them." - Patrick Carnes, author of Out of the Shadows. |
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Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction This is the landmark book introducing and legitimizing sexual behaviors and sexual fantasies as an addictive disease. Dr. Carnes proposes three levels of sexual addiction, describes the addiction cycle and its progression, and presents the faulty core beliefs of the addict and the coaddict and their healthy counterparts. |
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Facing the Shadow: Starting Sexual and Relationship Recovery Starting Sexual and Relationship Recovery is the first to take techniques used by thousands of recovering sex addicts and show readers, step by step, how to break free of problematic sexual behaviors and live a healthier, more fulfilling life. A task-centered, competency-based, effective approach to recovery from compulsive sexual behaviors is presented. Dr. Carnes, through years of research, has found that if recovering sex addicts did certain tasks, they got better. If they did not, their life would remain problem-filled. Performing these tasks essentially creates skills that enable recovering sex addicts to manage their illness and to live rich, full, and relapse-free lives - and systematically following this process generates a positive outcome in all but about three percent of cases. A step-by-step, task-oriented model of how to manage sex addiction recovery for both individuals and professionals. |
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