Blogs

Stay on Your Side of the Street! Ever heard this phrase? “Stay on your side of the street” is a popular phrase in addiction recovery. It means that family members of the addict are to have boundaries and stay separate from the addict’s recovery journey. It encourages...

No 1. Establishing Sobriety Establishing and maintaining sobriety - stopping the bleeding - is often a good place to start with someone struggling with an addiction, and sex addiction is no exception. If a person desires improved relationships with others, especially...

What is Sex Addiction?  A sex addiction is similar to most other addictions – it is either used to medicate or manage trauma, or it is a control issue – an issue where a part of a person is able to take control or take over for a time and make the person do some kind...

EMDR has been widely used in the psychotherapy field for healing trauma.  I have used it for this with people with sex addictions and its been very effective at ending the addiction when the addiction has been driven by childhood trauma, especially childhood sexual...

The very first step of every 12-Step program begins with these words – an admission of powerlessness. For many people, that very first step makes participation in a 12-Step program very difficult and with good reason: powerlessness is an uncomfortable feeling and not...

Whether it's food, alcohol, or sex, there are a number of people who react strongly to hearing that someone has engaged in self-destructive behaviors because they are an addict by saying, "Don't use addiction as an excuse for your behavior! Take responsibility!" This...

What is the connection between desire and love? This question has been one that relationship scientists and couples therapists have concerned themselves with for a long time, but the answer has remained elusive. Recently, researcher Jim Pfaus, professor of psychology...

Everyone who has been in psychotherapy has had the question arise: When am I done here? This question is a good one, as there is no obvious ending point for psychotherapy – it isn't like a course of antibiotics, or a broken bone, when the ending of treatment can be...

The majority of people's problems are caused by the fact that they are disconnected with the rest of creation. (C.S. Lewis)  We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. We made a decision to turn out will and our lives over...

The term "trauma" gets frequently used when people are recovering from a spouse's affair or extramarital sexual activity. Use of this word may be an attempt to try to describe the level of distress, anger, pain, sadness, anxiety, and other intense feelings the partner...