“In short, the greatest gift of relationship proves to be that as the result of encountering each other, we are obliged to grow larger than we had planned.”……James Hollis I thought of a drink today. Thankfully that thought made me sick. I also toyed with the idea of a sparkly white line of speed,

Ginny is a 30-year-old realtor. She says she dates constantly, but she can never seem to find the right partner. She says, “I’m online all the time. I’ve got profiles on every dating and hookup app that’s out there. I even joined JDate, even though I’m not Jewish. Honestly, if I meet the right guy,

  Paul is a 27-year-old cable TV installer with a long-term girlfriend living in a nearby city. They’ve been dating for two years, and he finds her extremely attractive. However, he struggles to perform with her in bed. He says this has been an ongoing issue, almost from the beginning of their relationship. A year

In today’s world, porn addiction is the most common form of sexual addiction. Without doubt, this is thanks to the Internet, which offers an almost endless supply of free, easily and anonymously accessible erotic imagery of every ilk imaginable. For porn addicts, the Internet is a bit like dropping an alcoholic in a liquor store

In today’s world, digital technology is omnipresent. Nearly everyone owns or has access to a computer or some other digital device, like a smartphone or a tablet. And for the vast majority of people this is a good thing. Sex addicts, however, can struggle with the 24/7/365 ability to affordably and anonymously access pretty much

One of the first questions I hear from almost every sex addict new to recovery is “How did this happen?” And many of the men and women who ask this question are unable (or unwilling) to move forward with treatment and the process of recovery until they have an answer. So even though knowledge about

Addicts of all types typically experience an increasing tolerance to the mood-altering effects of their substance/behavior of choice. In simplest terms, this occurs because the brain adjusts to excessive dopamine levels (created by the repeated use of an addictive substance or behavior) by producing less dopamine and/or reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the

Triggers for sexual addiction are the thoughts and feelings that set the cycle of sex addiction in motion. There are two main types of sex addiction triggers – internal and external – and both can be incredibly powerful. Internal triggers are uncomfortable emotions, feelings, and experiences such as boredom, shame, depression, anger, anxiety, guilt, fear,

Sometimes people wonder if pleasurable behaviors can be addictive. Well, they can. In fact, they’re every bit as addictive as alcohol, cigarettes, cocaine, opiates, etc. And there is a great deal of research that proves this fact. For starters, and most notably, numerous studies tell us that addictive substances and addictive behaviors trigger the same

Sex addiction is not the easiest thing to recognize, especially if you’re neck deep in it. Even outside observers (friends, family, therapists, etc.) sometimes struggle to identify the problem, primarily because sex addicts tend to be highly secretive about what they are doing. If you are worried about your (or someone else’s) sexual behaviors, and