How Sex Addiction Treatment in Beverly Hills, Irvine, and Newport Beach Can Help
Experts think that around 10.3% of men struggle with sex addiction. Getting sex addiction treatment in Los Angeles will change your life.
People tend to assume that sex addiction only affects men, but that’s not the case. About 7% of women or more live with sex addiction. Truthfully, sex addiction affects all genders, but sex addiction is so underreported, the statistics aren’t always accurate.
Sex addiction treatment can make all the difference. You, too, deserve to experience the complete healing that sex addiction recovery brings.
Good news: The experts at Blair Wellness Group can help you get out of destructive cycles and work toward healing and moving forward. Here are a few of the ways that will make a profound difference in your life.
Honesty
People with sex addiction often lie about their behavior to those around them. Lies about finances, how they spend their time, and whom they’re speaking with are common.
Plus, people who struggle with addiction are often in denial about it. They downplay the negative consequences that stem from their addiction. Fortunately, psychologist are mentally equipped to talk to people who are in denial.
If you’re not in denial, treatment gives you a chance to be honest.
Confronting sex addiction requires honesty. This includes being honest with yourself and your psychologist. Being honest is the only way to get the most out of any treatment.
Mental Health Issues
Like other addictions, sex addiction is often rooted in other mental health conditions. Mental health conditions that occur alongside an addiction are co-occurring disorders.
Many people who experience addiction have at least 1 co-occurring disorder. People frequently engage in addictive behaviors in order to cope with their mental illness symptoms.
Part of sexual addiction recovery involves treating any underlying mental health conditions you have. Only a mental health professional can give you an accurate diagnosis.
No amount of self-care can compensate for the treatment a certified psychologist provides. The idea that you can just “snap out of it” is just a myth. Much like other myths about depression and mental illness, it isn’t true.
Confront Trauma and Pain
If you want to know how to help someone with sex addiction, refer them to a psychologist. People with sex addiction use unhealthy sexual behavior to cope with stress and pain.
Treatment helps you deal with trauma and pain effectively. In treatment, you’ll explore your childhood/earlier years and traumatic events in your history. The psychologist will also identify patterns that contribute to your addiction.
It’s also common for people with sex addiction to have low self-esteem and/or feel shame. A psychologist helps you unpack your feelings, change your self-talk/thought patterns, and start healing.
Identify Triggers
Seeking professional help for sex addiction will also help you identify and learn more about your triggers. In psychology, a trigger is any stimulus that brings up trauma or uncomfortable feelings. Without proper examination, these triggers drive people with sex addiction to engage in unhealthy sexual behavior.
Sex addiction triggers could be smells, sights, sounds, tastes, or physical feelings. Difficult life events can be triggering, but so can something as simple as someone saying something to you.
Identifying and exploring these triggers lets you know what kinds of things “trigger” your behavior. This knowledge fuels your recovery by helping you understand yourself better and avoid situations that could lead to relapsing.
Speaking of triggers, this leads us to the next benefit of going to treatment for sex addiction:
Learn Better Coping Skills
When faced with certain triggers, a person with sex addiction turns to unhealthy sexual behavior to cope. However, a coping mechanism isn’t healthy if it harms your, your relationships, or your quality of life.
In treatment, you’ll learn how to replace unhealthy methods of coping with healthy coping skills. Healthy coping mechanisms might not give you a dopamine rush, but over time, they’ll improve how you cope with stress and negative emotions.
Most importantly, healthy coping mechanisms will help you prevent a relapse.
Deal With Withdrawal
Most people associated withdrawal with hard drugs, but withdrawal is a reality faced by many people with sex addiction. They experience withdrawal when they stop engaging in the unhealthy sexual behavior they’re addicted to.
Withdrawal brings up negative feelings and sensations. People who go through sex addiction withdrawal report increased anxiety, restlessness, agitation, depression, and cravings.
When someone is going through withdrawal, their risk of relapsing increases. Seeing a psychologist helps you deal with the negative feelings brought on by withdrawal. Plus, a psychologist can suggest relapse prevention skills you never considered before.
Heal Your Relationships
Keeping sexual secrets is a common symptom of sex addiction. But it’s no secret that sexual secrets destroy relationships. This is usually how people with sex addiction lose their partners’ trust.
If your sex addiction has gotten between you and your family, treatment is a step in the right direction. A psychologist will help you learn how to be more accountable and communicative towards your partner. Once in treatment, you can take steps to prevent relapses.
It’s not unusual for a person with sex addiction to struggle with being physically intimate with their partner. Psychologist who treat sex addiction let clients discuss these issues without judgment. These psychologist also help clients overcome personal obstacles so they can enjoy quality intimacy with their partners.
You could also have your spouse/partner come in with you for a marriage/relationship counseling session. This gives you both the opportunity to talk about your issues with an understanding professional. In turn, the professional can give you solid advice regarding how to confront your problems.
Start Your Recovery With Sex Addiction Treatment in Beverly Hills, Irvine, and Newport Beach
According to Psychology Today, sex addiction affects 3% to 6% of adults. Seeking sex addiction treatment in Los Angeles will lead you down the path to recovery.
In our culture, there’s a stigma attached to sexuality. That’s why people who have sex addiction don’t get to express themselves often.
Start talking about your experiences—request an appointment now. You’ll feel better knowing that you’re finally taking a step toward recovery. Learn about the Blair Wellness Group and how you can take back control of your life. We work with clients in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Westwood, Newport, Irvine, Century City, and Orange County. We look forward to meeting you.
