How to Treat Female Sex Addiction
Addiction is a serious problem that should be addressed amicably to avail the best of solutions to those affected. As it stands people get addicted to different things and while some kinds of addictions are more common like drug addiction, behavioral addictions are also dangerous just as much and so should not be overlooked. Sex addiction is real and has enslaved many people men and women alike, however while sex addiction affects both males and females, the challenges faced by female addicts are greater. However contrary to what many people thin sex addiction is never really about sex, but about a hungry heart that craves intimacy. Sex is merely the vehicle that a person uses to find nurture and acceptance. The mechanism behind sex addiction is the very same mechanism behind alcohol, drug, and other addictions. Due to the fact that many women are victims of sex addiction it is therefore necessary to come up with a better understanding of this vice so as to help relieve women who are addicted to sex.
Sex addiction is also catapulted by other factors that may include the need to medicate emotional pain or escape an unsatisfactory situation, and the impulsive or even compulsive quest to satisfy unmet emotional needs. In short, sex addiction is best viewed as an attachment or intimacy disorder.
Sex addiction in itself is a problem but it may also lead to other forms of addiction like addiction to drugs and other substances. Addiction from sex can also span from highly dysfunctional families where members are not given the warmth of the family embrace. In absence of this females most likely seek this affection elsewhere, an affection that is mostly actualized in sex. Women who are addicted to sex may also suffer from, eating disorders are common, as is chemical dependency, and compulsions for work, spending, and gambling. There is a perception that women continue to be underrepresented in health and addiction studies. This perception is trues as many individuals, both professionals and non-professionals, assume sex addiction is for men only. Research demonstrates that the majority of abuse survivors are female, making them more susceptible to addiction. It is quite unfortunate that many women continue to go undiagnosed and often treatment of past sex abuse will be too limited to prevent later sex addiction. In most cases even if counselors recognize that females can be sexually addicted, they may fail to recognize the feminine nuances that typically define female sex addiction.
Researchers have also linked childhood abuse to sex addiction in adulthood. Some of the abuses that many females are subjected to in childhood include; verbal, emotional, physical, sexual, and spiritual abuse. When a person is subjected to any of these abuses whether with illicit intentions or without intending to cause hurt, they may develop the craving for affection and even a need to be appreciated and loved, it’s these vacuum that they eventually opt to find in sexual activities that they get stuck to after sometime. When one considers the need for intimacy to be the primary motivator of a human being, it’s easy to see how abuse of any type undermines this core need and damages one’s ability to foster healthy attachment to others.
Treatments for female sex addictions
Due to its adverse effects on the lives of women, several hospitals are now offering varied avenues for treatments of female sex addiction. Most of the time any treatment begins with a comprehensive assessment of the patient’s life, relationship and sexual history. This information is utilized throughout treatment to help clients develop more loving relationships, greater intimacy and healthy sexuality which are key in sex addiction treatment.
Some of the sex addictions that have been specifically used for women include;
- 12-Step meetings onsite and via electronic media
- Weekly experiential learning days, including climbing, equine therapy and a ropes course
- Fully gender-separate living, eating, recreational and treatment environment
- Weekly equine therapy
- Multi-day family program, which includes couples equine therapy sessions
- Pastoral counseling available when requested
- Dedicated, gender-specific residential support staff
- A licensed and highly experienced female therapist specifically dedicated to guiding clients throughout their entire CRSR stay
- Gender-specific, trauma-focused therapy with a trauma specialist
- Daily group therapy and other individual work
When an effective sex addiction treatment is put in place then all the co-occurring issues with sex addiction like substance abuse, emotional trauma, eating disorders and other addictions are also curbed. Through an effective sex addiction treatment, women are invited to address underlying issues that support unhealthy relationship patterns. Women are also encouraged to help establish boundaries that may help them work toward genuine self-esteem and stable intimacy as opposed to that appreciation achieved only with sex.
Women who are struggling with sex addiction are also encouraged to work with communities that may help to ease the guilt that they feel especially if their sex addiction is fuelled by childhood abuses or bitter sexual memories that may stem from sex abuse. With these communities women are able to share their experience, an act that serves as a safety valve that helps them exhale the bitter insecurities that spur into them irresistible craving for sex.
Finally, sex addiction is a problem that many women are enslaved to. This problem needs to be treated effectively through integrative medicine. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an expert at this. Call her on (843) 213-1480 for help.
How to Treat Female Sex Addiction
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