Therapy for Sex Addiction: Psychodynamic Therapy

In my opinion, long-term psychodynamic remedies are the most successful solution to cultivate healthy personality development. The most comprehensive therapy combines the sympathy, insight and relational abilities of the psychodynamic psychotherapist with all the 12-step orientation and cognitive-behavioral strategies of the addiction specialist.

What exactly is Psychodynamic Psychotherapy?

The main focus of psychodynamic treatment is on patients’ internal structural cuts as opposed to on their own addictive symptoms. Besides compensating and restoring deficits within the self stemming from childhood misattunements with early caretakers, it can possibly be the most appropriate treatment to aid individuals manage existence stressors and painful emotional states of which contribute to urges to engage in addictive sexual behavior.

The focus of this kind of type of remedies are to enhance individuals’ self-regulation and self-care, also to foster their very own capacity for meaningful social connections. Psychotherapy provides these goals by simply facilitating the development of healthy approaches to regulate emotional self-states, for getting appropriate needs met in reality, for fixing inner conflicts, plus for taking care of oneself within a spectrum associated with areas.

Integration with the patient’s personality is an important element of psychodynamic therapy. Sex junkies reside in two worlds; the “normal” entire world of work in addition to love as well as the “secret world” of intimate acting out. This kind of split within the persona results in the addict having various value systems in addition to goals for every single area of the personality. Psychodynamic treatment promotes personality integration by getting together under the light-weight of consciousness the particular split, denied, dissociated and repressed elements of the individuals mental functions. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde finally come to be one.

Some Common Principles of Psychodynamic Treatment

Focus will be on affect in addition to expression of feelings. The therapist may help the sufferer describe plus put words in order to feelings, including contradictory feelings, feelings that are threatening, plus feelings that the patient may certainly not initially be able to accept.

Exploration of attempts to avoid unpleasant feelings and thoughts.

Knowing, although not knowing from the same time is the consequence of various defenses the person uses to continue to be unaware. One element of this form of therapy is actively focusing and discovering these avoidances. Affected person and therapist nick away at defense so unconscious materials could be brought to be able to consciousness that result in a chance of modifying and adapting to be able to reality.

Identification associated with recurring themes in addition to patterns. Self-defeating styles in patients’ views, feelings, self-concepts, associations and life suffers from are put beneath a microscope.

Typically the past is living in the present. Past experience, specially early family-of-origin issues, affects our relation to, and experience of, the present. Typically the goal is not really just to place the past with regard to its own benefit, but rather to help clients free themselves from your bonds of previous experience in order to live more fully in the present.

Give attention to social relationships

Psychodynamic treatment emphasizes patients’ interpersonal experience. Problematic interpersonal patterns interfere with some sort of person’s ability to be able to meet emotional demands.

Hunt for the entirety of mental lifestyle. Patients are motivated to say whichever comes to brain. Thoughts may range over various facets of mental life, including desires, cravings, fears, dreams, dreams and daydreams. All of this kind of is a wealthy source of information about how the individual views self in addition to others, interprets in addition to makes sense involving experience, avoids aspects of experience, or interfer4es with potential capacity to find greater entertainment, ease and which means in life.

sex addiction therapy Typically the goals of this particular type of therapy extend beyond treatment the symptom (compulsive sex) but furthermore foster the great presence of interior capacities and sources. These might consist of more fulfilling associations, more effective using one’s talents and abilities, maintain a realistic sense of self esteem, tolerate a wider array of solid feelings without performing out, have even more satisfying sexual experiences, greater comprehension of home and other plus face life’s issues with greater independence and flexibility. These goals are explored through self-reflection, self-exploration and self-discovery of which take place in the context of the safe plus deeply authentic relationship between therapist plus patient.

Personality Aspects Popular among Sex Addicts

Treated in Psychodynamic Treatment

Sexually obsessive behavior helps one particular manage fluctuating impacts, self-sooth, and keep self-esteem. Sex distracts from painful emotions and thoughts, nullifies inner emptiness, replaces feelings of fragmentation with an optical illusion of control, plus temporarily bolsters self confidence.

Sexual activity is definitely a form involving self-medication, used in order to make unbearable emotions and self-states bearable. Addiction furnishes outwardly what cannot get provided internally.

Intimately compulsive individuals frequently have personalities along with narcissistic features.

Inferior capacity for self-regulation, self-efficacy and self-care

Sex Addicts have a tendency to have problems sustaining relationships plus feeling close to others.

Problems within family-of-origin where their particular individuality and requires were often disregarded or punished.

Inside childhood, the real, real personality required to get “underground” to make sure you narcissistic parents; elements of the persona were then “split off ” and are enacted through sexual acts as the adult.

Anyone affected alternates between deprivation involving needs/feelings and uncontrolled, wild indulgence. This point out is marked by significant splitting and minimal integration. (The Doctor Jekyll/Mr. Hyde Syndrome)

Deviant love-making provides a much-needed connection with another with out the “danger” regarding relatedness.

Brief sexual encounters are seen as emotionally risk-free. They have a fixed ending point, no guitar strings attached and have got little room for conflict. Furthermore, private partners cannot readily reject the addict upon the breakthrough of his specific or perceived faults.

Many sex lovers have a robust wish for manage along with a fear involving vulnerability. They really feel internally fragile in addition to prone to fragmentation.

Sexual behaviors allow a feeling involving control, power, victory or omnipotence of which compensates for early-life feelings of confusion and powerlessness. Almost all likely a ritualized sexual enactment turns trauma into success and is a new repetition compulsion along with the unconscious target of repairing the first childhood trauma. Unable to start relationships developing out of the trauma are passed through sexual exercise.

The details of the sexual enactment, in addition to the fantasies that fuel it, will be laden with symbolic meaning and are an aid in comprehending the themes associated with inner conflict driving a car the behavior.
The Fruits of Remedy

Psychodynamic therapy can assist sex addicts to produce:

An understanding associated with the internal aspects driving their sexual behavior;

Better self-regulation through internalization regarding the nurturance, containment and structure from the therapeutic environment;

Better capacity for sociable relationships and healthy sexuality;

Improved capacity for working from an optimal level;

Improved access to creative inner solutions;

Improved capacity to be able to reflect on thoughts and feelings, with a producing embrace inner control along with a decreased require to act up unwanted mental states;
The use of the personal and public selves: Dr. Jekyll and even Mr. Hyde turn into one;

The therapist explores the customer’s sexual behaviors plus fantasies in depth. Like dreams, that they have symbolic that means and help in knowing the structure in the personality as a whole.