Sexual Addiction Treatment Program
Morningside Recovery brings expertise to the therapeutic table when treating sexual addiction. Sexual addiction is often a co-occurring condition that is not immediately identified when clients enter treatment. Frequently a dual-diagnosis is made later during treatment. One client shared, “I couldn’t accept that I wasn’t in control of my own actions. I knew I was drinking compulsively, but I was actually sober when I lost my job due to my porn obsession. I craved sex to the point of spending sixteen thousand a month on prostitutes. I obsessed and craved more and more, but in the end I always felt empty and disgusted. It wasn’t easy to talk about any of it until I got to Morningside.”
To treat sexual addictions, Morningside Recovery uses an effective combination of education, therapy, and counseling. Therapy includes both individual and group sessions. Clients learn to manage the symptoms of co-occurring disorders and utilize the skills learned in treatment to maintain control over their lives. These skills are learned during cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), which offers practical tools and emphasizes examining our own thinking as the source of our emotions and behaviors. Clients learn to honestly express feelings and concerns, and how to implement the therapeutic process in their daily lives as recovering sex addicts. Clients free themselves from the cycles that prevent them from truly living a rewarding life.
Like other sufferers of addiction, a person with a sexual addiction gains less and less satisfaction from their activity. In other words, it stops working for them. They form no emotional bonds with their sex partners and their lack of control over their behavior usually leads to feelings of guilt and shame. As the negative consequences -- financial, health, familial, and social -- pile up, the obsession with sex actually gets worse. Thoughts about sex constantly float through the addict’s mind until it’s difficult to function in daily life. Part of the disease is denial, and sex addicts often rationalize or justify their behavior by blaming others for their problems.
Morningside recognizes the importance of treating any and all co-occurring conditions simultaneously. Many treatment facilities once believed that there were primary and secondary disorders and it was best to treat the primary illness first. Research has proven this is not the case. Nor does it matter whether a psychological disorder preceded addiction or addiction preceded a psychological disorder. At Morningside, treatment is about getting a client well, and that means addressing all illnesses.
Sexual addiction is associated with risk-taking because clients frequently report engaging in various forms of sexual activity, regardless of potential dangers or negative consequences. By facing the reality of their behaviors, clients learn that denial is often the root of the disease. With this in mind, clients often say that honesty is the road to recovery. By addressing the underlying issues driving the addiction, therapy at Morningside gives clients the insight needed to deal with an addiction where total abstinence is often impossible. At Morningside, a sexual addict learns to engage in intimacy and sex in a healthy, sustainable manner, and our real-world approach makes this possible.
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