Sexual Addiction Treatment Centers Seeing Large-Scale Growth
Tremendous growth in the number of treatment centers for sexually dysfunctional behaviors and sexual addictions points to the problem’s growth in scope, although addiction to sex is not formally listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Part of the increase in therapists specializing in sexual dysfunctions and new treatment centers opening up to treat the problem could also be linked to celebrity cases of sexual addictions, such as golf professional Tiger Woods and actor David Duchovny. These stories, and others, are making the problems of sexual addiction more socially accepted and could be encouraging millions with similar addictions to seek help and treatment.
A decade ago there were few other therapists who specialized in sexually dysfunctional addictions and behaviors. One of the chief reasons the field of sexual therapy and treatment has grown is because celebrities have come forward to seek treatment for sex addiction. While sexual addiction has not yet received a medical foothold, new outpatient treatment centers, therapist educational programs, and other efforts are rising rapidly.
Centers that formally specialized in drug addiction treatment are branching out into centers that serve people with sexual addictions, and some have corporate brands. Names include the Sexual Recovery Institute and Promises, with plans in place for networks of treatment centers that can provide a multi-week recovery program.The Sexual Recovery Institute is also developing a residential program at The Ranch outside Nashville, Tennessee.
Another reason sexual therapists and treatment centers for sexual addictions are believed to be growing in numbers is the ease and availability of Internet pornography. Experts say some sexual addicts have abused pornographic Web sites or pornographic materials for long periods of time, but recent celebrity information on the addiction has helped shed light on the addiction’s ability to destroy families, finances, lives and futures.
Like other obsessive behaviors, an addiction to sexual behaviors causes the person to lose control of their ability to stop and brings great stress. Sexually compulsive or addictive behaviors can include obsessively using pornography, having a continuous pattern of multiple sex partners or a compulsion toward bizarre sexual acts. The person will typically abandon relationships or work, overspend for sexual materials or acts and have obsessive thoughts about the behaviors. Experts believe addictions to sex are rooted in low self-esteem and the desire for the person to escape negative feelings.
The number of therapists specializing in sexual addictions in the U.S. has increased twofold since 2007, and treatment centers like the Sexual Recovery Institute say they have experienced a 50 percent increase in demand for their services. Numbers of Internet users completing online surveys related to problems with sexual addiction have also sharply increased.
Some experts that have been treating sex addiction for more than a decade fear that pop-up treatment centers may provide untrustworthy services to sexual addiction consumer; many experts hope that new accreditation services and federal monitoring will become available soon.
Celebrity stories, new treatment centers and new educational programs for therapists may ultimately help give the problem of sexual addiction a new standing among other disorders that destroy millions of lives each year.
