It may be the single most important question I am asked — sometimes by the man sitting across from me, sometimes by a worried partner: “Can someone actually recover from this?” Behind it is real fear, because so many people have already tried to stop on their own and...
One of the first questions men ask me when they finally sit down to talk about compulsive sexual behavior is some version of: “Am I the only one dealing with this?” The shame that surrounds these struggles can make it feel that way. So let me answer the question directly &...
If you are working to recover from compulsive sexual behavior, a relapse can feel like proof that nothing has changed. It is not. Relapse is a common part of the recovery process — research suggests that 40 to 60 percent of people relapse at some point — and it is almost always pre...
The word paraphilia sounds clinical and a little alarming, and most people first encounter it in the context of a news story or a courtroom. That framing is misleading. In its plain meaning, a paraphilia is simply a sexual interest that falls outside what is statistically typical &mda...
Almost every man who searches the phrase "compulsive masturbation" has already had the same private moment: the realization that the pattern has been going on longer, or more often, or with more emotional weight than he is comfortable with. He is not looking for permission. He is looking for a...
If you have searched for help with compulsive sexual behavior in the last several years, you have probably seen the same condition called by at least three different names: sex addiction, hypersexuality, and more recently compulsive sexual behavior disorder. The term...
Most adults have a private relationship with pornography, and for many it stays unremarkable. But some men reach a point where the time, the frequency, and the emotional weight of their use no longer feels like a free choice. They wonder, quietly: Is this still normal, or have I crossed in...