Seeking Sex Addiction Treatment at The Blanchard Institute
When you think of sex addiction, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
Is it a man with a ton of money and power? Maybe it’s a woman who’s just looking for love in all the wrong places? How about a celebrity whose bad behavior has been splashed across the tabloids for years?
If you’re thinking about any of these things, chances are you don’t know much about sex addiction.
This addiction is a serious problem that can destroy lives and relationships. It affects men and women from all walks of life, but it’s often misunderstood. Learning how to recognize the signs of sex addiction and how to get help can make a difference if you think you or someone you know might be struggling with this disorder.
What is Sex Addiction?
Sex addiction is a condition where a person has an uncontrollable desire for sex, despite their negative consequences. These consequences can include relationship damage, financial problems, and even legal trouble. Sex addicts experience intense cravings for sexual activity and may engage in risky behavior to fulfill these desires.
Sex addiction typically begins in adolescence or early adulthood. Childhood trauma, including sexual abuse and other traumatic experiences, often fuels this condition and makes it harder for people to regulate their emotions and impulses. Sex addiction also occurs more frequently in men than in women, with about four times as many men being diagnosed.
The symptoms of sex addiction include:
- A strong desire to have sex or watch pornography despite negative consequences.
- Having multiple partners at once or having multiple affairs.
- An inability to stop despite knowing it’s damaging your relationships or causing other problems in your life.
- Using sex to avoid problems or negative feelings.
- Having an obsessive interest in sexual behaviors that are considered deviant by society.
- Compulsive masturbation or viewing pornography, often as a way of escaping from stress.
What Are the Treatments for Sex Addiction?
There are many different types of treatment available, including psychotherapy and medications. While there is no official cure for sex addiction, treatment can help you manage your symptoms and prevent them from interfering with your life.
Inpatient Treatment Programs
Inpatient treatment programs suit those seeking more intensive care after outpatient treatment. You can find inpatient treatment at residential centers, hospitals, or specialty sex addiction facilities. These programs help you manage sexual impulses so you can live without sexual compulsions. During the day, you’ll talk with therapists and attend classes on topics like stress management and healthy relationships. You’ll also work through any other issues that may be contributing to your addiction.
Inpatient treatment programs typically last between 30 and 90 days. Depending on the severity of your addiction, some may be longer. During your stay in an inpatient program, you’ll receive individual therapy sessions as well as group counseling sessions. These sessions help you build skills that will keep you from acting out sexually once you leave the facility. You’ll also likely participate in activities designed specifically for treating sex addiction such as art therapy or meditation sessions where talking about what triggers your urges might feel too difficult or painful at first glance.
12-Step Programs
12-step programs are a central part of the recovery process for sex addiction and other compulsive behaviors. These programs help you develop a spiritual connection with a higher power while working alongside others who are going through the same experience. Here’s how they work:
You attend meetings regularly—often several times per week—and after each meeting, you spend time reflecting on what happened in your life that day and how you can apply what you learned at the meeting to your recovery process. The meetings are led by a sponsor, who is someone who has been in recovery for several years and has worked their way through the 12 steps themselves. They act as a guide for newcomers and support them through their journey.
In addition to attending meetings, people in 12-step programs often participate in activities outside of meetings that help strengthen their recovery. Examples include volunteering, reading books about addiction and recovery, meditating, or attending therapy sessions. These activities provide additional opportunities for reflection on one’s progress toward becoming sober and healthy again.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a great treatment for sex addiction, because it focuses on changing behaviors and thought patterns.
In cognitive behavioral therapy, you learn how to recognize the thoughts and feelings that lead you to act out sexually and then replace those thoughts with healthier ones. For example, if you think that no one will love you unless they have sex with you, your therapist may encourage you to replace that belief with, “I can be loved without having sex.” You’ll practice recognizing these kinds of thoughts when they come up in real life as well as during therapy sessions.
In addition to replacing negative beliefs with positive ones, cognitive behavioral therapy also teaches healthy coping skills for dealing with stress and anxiety. These skills are especially useful for people who struggle to control their sexual impulses, as stress or anxiety often triggers those behaviors.
Medication
Medication is a treatment option for sex addiction, but it is not the first line of defense. However, it can be used in conjunction with other treatments to help a person overcome their addiction.
There are many different medications that can be prescribed for sex addiction. Some of these medications are antidepressants, which can help reduce urges, as well as mood stabilizers and antipsychotics. Antidepressants are often prescribed for sex addiction because they can help manage co-occurring symptoms like low mood and anxiety. Antidepressants are typically taken daily for about 8 weeks before the full effects become apparent. It’s important to stick with the medication during this time period if you’re considering taking an antidepressant for your sex addiction.
If you have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorders prior to your diagnosis of sex addiction, it’s possible that your doctor will prescribe an antidepressant without suggesting other treatments as well. However, if you’re not experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety at the same time as your sexual urges or behaviors (or if those symptoms aren’t severe enough), then you may want to consider using another type of medication instead.
Get Professional Help With Sex Addiction Treatment
It’s important to remember that no one treatment is right for everyone. If you’re suffering from sex addiction and feel like you need to seek out help, please contact us at 704-288-1097. The Blanchard Institute, located in the Charlotte Metro area, has experience in sex addiction treatment and can help you achieve a healthy life free of addiction. We are in-network with a variety of insurance providers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, Tricare, Magellan, Carelon, and more. Verify your insurance benefits with us or give us a call to schedule a same-day assessment.
Sex Addiction Treatment FAQ’s
Many people ask why they became addicted to sex and how they developed a sex addiction. This question comes up when they realize that sex has more control over their lives than it should have. It is important to understand the why and how before you try fighting a sex addiction. The first step is understanding what type of sex addict you are. Sex addiction is formed from a wide range of experiences that take place in an individual’s life and can vary from patient to patient.
For many sex addicts, pornography combined with regular masturbation is the cornerstone. Many sex addicts have great difficulty getting sober from this combination of behaviors. Pornography, along with accompanying fantasies, creates an unreal world that the sex addict visits throughout adolescence and other developmental stages. It forms an object relationship that conditions their emotional and sexual self to rely on these objects and fantasies. As a result, they may depend upon these objects and fantasies to meet their emotional and sexual needs hundreds of times before having sex with a real person.
A high sex drive is generally healthy when it exists alongside satisfaction, respect, and emotional balance. People with a high sex drive are typically content with their sex life and relationship, and they do not view a partner’s refusal as a personal rejection. They understand that their partner may not always be in the mood or that other factors can affect intimacy.
Sex addiction, on the other hand, often involves emotional distress and unhealthy reactions to boundaries. Someone struggling with sexual addiction may experience a partner’s refusal as deeply personal and respond in extreme or harmful ways. This can include starting intense arguments, seeking sex elsewhere as a form of punishment, or engaging in impulsive behaviors that damage the relationship.