Effective Treatment Plans for "Sex Addiction" or "Porn Addiction"

What Does an Effective Sex Addiction or Porn Addiction Treatment Plan Look Like?

Individuals who exhibit patterns of sexual impulsivity or compulsivity (and related struggles) commonly also struggle with depression, anxiety, trauma, attention deficit difficulties, or substance use problems.  There are also many struggles that appear similar to compulsivity that can make sexual behaviors extremely difficult to manage, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.  To ensure that you receive the most successful care possible, it is essential to examine how these factors may be playing a role in your behaviors.  Unfortunately, many well-meaning providers fail to thoroughly screen for or address these other very real and often debilitating conditions.  Often this comes in the form of a one size fits all prescription for sex addiction therapy.  At PBH, we frequently see the aftermath of this when individuals come to us after attempting other, less comprehensive approaches.  They are often frustrated that they are not getting better or feel that treatment is hopeless.  Together, we can work to figure out how the pieces fit together for you.  We can then build an appropriate treatment plan to help you achieve a rich, rewarding, and connected life.

Individual Therapy

Each individual is unique, and therapy should be tailored to their particular needs.  A proper individual therapy plan will be based on an assessment of the nature of the sexual behavior struggles, the function the behaviors have played in the individual’s life, underlying personality or mental health concerns, relationship and attachment patterns, and current struggles with intimate relationships.  This includes help working to heal relationships from the damage resulting from problematic sexual behaviors.  If individual therapy is not tailored to the client’s particular needs, it is likely to be ineffective.   

Group Therapy

An important part of healing from problematic or compulsive sexual behavior or porn use is sometimes working alongside others with similar struggles.  Engaging in group therapy provides opportunities for self-growth, learning, and connecting with others.  Knowing that you are not alone in your struggles and receiving compassionate support and acceptance from others is a powerful experience.  Group offers a safe space to heal, gain hope, learn specific tools to gain control over your compulsive behaviors, and provides an opportunity for accountability.  Many clients report gaining significant benefits from group therapy that extend beyond the group environment to their relationships with their partner or spouse, family, and friends.

Couples Reconciliation Therapy

For individuals in a committed relationship where one or more violations of the fidelity expectations of the relationship have occurred, specialized couples therapy is a critical aspect of healing the relationship.  Our expert couple’s therapists are trained to help the members of the relationship to work through the pain, connect with empathy for the injured partner, establish healthy boundaries, better understand the factors that contributed to the behaviors, re-establish trust, reconstruct a new relationship designed to thrive, and build meaning out of the suffering.  The hurt partner and the relationship deserve an understanding as to why the behavior occurred.  This requires a more nuanced approach than simply labeling the problem a sex addiction or a porn addiction without further inquiry.