Sex Addiction Therapy San Diego
Everyone has an opinion from the guy on the street to the medical professional, all propagated and pulsated by the mass media. Call it sex addiction, sexual compulsion or get down and dirty bad behavior, our politicians, sports stars, and Hollywood celebrities are the popular representatives of such blatant public arousing interest. In American society where sex, like alcohol, is socially acceptable and encouraged, and sexual images proliferate, it becomes more challenging to distinguish between normal sexuality and excessive, or abnormal sexual behavior. The proof becomes obvious as the individual life spirals out of control physically, mentally and/or with regard to social or occupational functioning.
Whether spending hours on the computer finding increasingly better and varied pornography or searching the bars at night for the hot fling, or hitting up varied massage parlors for 'happy endings' over time the outcome is an individual who feels lousy about himself or herself. To escape from the negative feelings and thoughts, the obsessive-compulsive chase continues, hence the ability to momentarily displace the original undesirable emotion. The sexual experience is not about intimacy, but rather to seek pleasure. As the sexual compulsion continues, generally it takes more time to find increasingly varied scenarios of sexual behavior to maintain the intensity of the “sexual high.” Once the conquest has been achieved and the brains chemical rush of transitory euphoria dissipated, the original negative emotion returns coupled with greater undesirable emotion attached to the repetitive behavior. This “cyclic behavioral syndrome” is the fuel for sexual addiction compensating for psychic pain. The “secretiveness” of the out of control sexual behavior can add to the psychic pain, intensifying fear, guilt and shame if the truth should be revealed.
Obsessive and compulsive sexual thought and behavior is often an expression of depression, stress, inability to trust others, fear of intimacy and vulnerability, negative thinking about one’s self and/or feelings of inadequacy. It follows that generally sexual compulsive behavior is the “acting out” of individual psychic distress. The fear of intimacy and human connection may be mitigated momentarily by obsessive sexual fantasies and compulsive sexual behaviors while superficially inflating a sense of self-affirmation. Feelings of inferiority, inadequacy and worthlessness magically disappear while sexually preoccupied. The sex addict’s desperate search for the fulfillment of unmet childhood needs ends in disillusionment! The inflated sense of self, bolstered by denial and narcissism, is like a Mickey Mouse balloon suddenly pricked by a sharp needle. The cycle spins faster and faster until it crashes!
Time for Succes Live Life Without Regret
SEX ADDICTION THERAPY - SEX ADDICTION TREATMENT
Treatment involves controlling sexually addictive thoughts and most emphatically sex addictive behavior.
Dr. Silbert works with an individual to stop the self abusive behavior by unraveling the psychodynamics of destructive thinking. The establishment of a therapeutic relationship with Dr. Silbert assists in modulation of mood states and comprehension of aberrant thought processes promoting dysfunctional sexual behavior. Therapy focuses on understanding the origin and nature of psychological distress to enhance resolution of conflict between self and others.
The primary goal of treatment is to enable an individual to understand the power one has to modify a negative sense of self, while promoting functional patterns of sexual behaviors.
There is not a consensus on the definition of sex addiction. The medical models of hypersexual disorder, obsessive/compulsive disorder and chemical dependency are most often cited as frameworks in attempts to categorize the sexual disorder of sex addiction. The National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity has defined sexual addiction as “engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior acted out despite increasing negative consequences to self and others.” The behaviors continue despite the potential risks to one’s self with regard to finances, relationships, and physical and mental health.
Unlike the goal in treatment of chemical dependency, which is abstinence from use of all psychoactive substances, the therapeutic goal in sexual addiction is abstinence only from compulsive sexual behavior with adaptation of healthy sexuality.
The primary goal of treatment is to enable an individual to understand the power one has to modify a negative sense of self, while promoting functional patterns of sexual behaviors.
There is not a consensus on the definition of sex addiction. The medical models of hypersexual disorder, obsessive/compulsive disorder and chemical dependency are most often cited as frameworks in attempts to categorize the sexual disorder of sex addiction. The National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity has defined sexual addiction as “engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior acted out despite increasing negative consequences to self and others.” The behaviors continue despite the potential risks to one’s self with regard to finances, relationships, and physical and mental health.
Unlike the goal in treatment of chemical dependency, which is abstinence from use of all psychoactive substances, the therapeutic goal in sexual addiction is abstinence only from compulsive sexual behavior with adaptation of healthy sexuality.
Dr. Silbert combines forty years of education and experience with her sense of compassion, sensitivity and intuition to create an atmosphere of understanding and trust which promotes a therapeutic alliance for success!