As a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT), I have had the honor and privilege of training with Dr. Patrick Carnes, the pioneer of sex addiction treatment in the country, as well as: Dr. Stefanie Carnes, Rob Weiss (leading expert on cybersex in the country), Dr. Ken Adams (Author of Silently Seduced), Debra Kaplan (expert on trauma). All of these amazing experts are CSATs and CSAT-Supervisors. The approach to treatment that Dr. Carnes has created supports one of lasting and longterm recovery. As a recovering sex addict himself with 40 years in recovery, he has taken his own personal experience of recovery from this brain disease as well as extensive research to create an effective task based approach.
In today's world, youth have access to everything, including all types of pornography. The dangers are real and the statistics are both startling and disturbing. Here are just a few: American children begin consuming hardcore pornography at an average age of 11; four out of five 16 year olds regularly access pornography on-line.
People often misunderstand love addiction as being addicted to the feeling of love. Love addiction, however, has nothing to do with love. People become addicted to the fantasy that someone can actually make them feel whole (fill a "void"). People who get addicted to love or addicted to being in a relationship, typically come from a household where they experienced a fundamental failure in attachment, specifically to their mother. Many love addicts also grew up with emotional, physical, sexual, psychological abuse and/or neglect. So they learned early on to create a fantasy world of how they would like their life to be; one in which they are rescued by their partner. For women who get addicted to men, they create a fantasy of the "knight in shining armor." For men who get addicted to women, they create a fantasy of a "super woman." In same sex relationships, their partner becomes a fantasy of "super-partner."
Nowadays, teens have access to multiple social media sites, and can be found texting, face-booking, twittering, tumbling, insta-gramming, you name it, at all hours of the day and night. For many parents, the question a lot of times is,"How do I keep track of what they are looking at and who they are connecting with?"
Recently I had to move my meditation altar from my meditatiton room to accommodate a family member who was coming to visit us. Although I was comfortable with this family member visiting, I found myself becoming increasingly anxious and irritable. It was as though a cloud had descended upon me. Within a week, I found myself meditating less, trying to control more in my surroundings, feeling sad, scattered, and depressed.
