A sex addiction, when do you actually have one? When should you go into treatment for it and what does that treatment involve? We are happy to explain it to you.
What is sex addiction?
People who have are addicted to sex have a compulsive need for sex. They spend most of their time engaged in sex, both in thought and behavior. They no longer experience control. Examples of sex addiction include:
- excessive masturbation
- Frequent (online) porn watching
- unable to stop erotic chatting
- unable to stop cheating
- unable to stop visiting prostitutes
If you have a sex addiction, your whole life is completely dominated by the sexual behavior. Your relationships and work or education suffer.
Who can get treatment?
At Hacienda Paradiso we offer treatment to people who are addicted to sex, to men and women of all ages. This treatment is not suitable for people with addiction to transgressive sexual behavior, such as addiction to child pornography, exhibitionism.
What does the sex addiction treatment involve at Hacienda Paradiso?
Sex addiction treatment at Hacienda Paradiso will follow a model similar to any addiction treatment. One key difference between treatment for sex addiction and most other addictions is that lifelong abstinence is not the goal. Instead, the treatment and recovery process will aim to develop a healthy relationship with sex. What this relationship looks like will be discussed and agreed, and will form the goal of the recovery process.
1. ABSTINENCE
Like recovery from substance misuse, recovery from sex addiction is likely to start with a period of abstinence. Although there is no detox process to go through, abstaining from sex will start the process of resetting the brain’s relationship with sex. It is likely this, at least initially, is best undertaken in our luxury residential facility. This means the environment is highly controlled, and it is not possible to succumb to temptation.
2. THERAPY
Therapy will also be a core component of rehabilitation and recovery. Psychodynamic therapy might be used to explore your relationship with sex, helping you to understand what initially created that relationship and the need that it fulfils. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is also particularly effective. As an active therapy, it equips you to recognize the causes and triggers for your behavior and develop responses that break the chain of actions that previously would have triggered or exacerbated the condition further.
