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What Is Sex Addiction?

If you’re a sex addict, you’re dealing with an escalating, obsessive preoccupation with sexual fantasy and behaviors. As a result, you’ve damaged your romantic relationships, career, education, friendships, finances, and other life priorities. Most likely, you use the intensity of sexual fantasy and behaviors to escape (to avoid feeling) emotional discomfort – stress, anxiety, loneliness, depression, shame, boredom, and the like.

Are you obsessively preoccupied with sex?

Have you tried and failed to cut back or quit your involvement with porn, hookup apps, strip clubs, prostitution, affairs, compulsive masturbation, voyeurism, or similar behaviors?

Are you experiencing negative consequences related to your out-of-control sex life?

If you think you or a loved one may be struggling with sex addiction, we suggest you take this anonymous 25-question screening test:

Sex and Porn Addiction Self-Test.

This Sex and Porn Addiction Self-Test is a preliminary assessment tool. Your answers to the questions in this short quiz can help you, in conjunction with a licensed psychotherapist, identify issues that you may have with sex or porn addiction. Answer each question by circling the appropriate response- “yes” or “no” .

1. Do you feel overly distracted by, obsessed with, or preoccupied by your sexual fantasies and behavior?

Yes

No

2. Do you ever have trouble stopping your sexual behavior, even when you have more important things to do?

Yes

No

3. After having sex (with self or others), do you sometimes feel depressed or regret it?

Yes

No

4. Have you made promises to yourself or another person to change aspects of your sexual behavior, only to break those promises later?

Yes

No

5. Did you experience abuse, neglect, or other serious trauma as a child or adolescent?

Yes

No

6. Do you look forward to events with family and/or friends being over so you can engage in sexual behavior?

Yes

No

7. Do you have trouble maintaining relationships once the sexual newness and intensity has worn off?

Yes

No

8. Have you ever kept secrets or lied about money and/or time spent on sex, porn, affairs, and similar behavior?

Yes

No

9. Do you sometimes regret the amount of time you spend with porn, webcams, hookup apps, and other forms of tech-driven sexual behavior?

Yes

No

10. Does your sexual behavior, real-world or online, interfere with your personal goals or create negative consequences in your work, community, or academic life?

Yes

No

11. Have your family, friends, or partner(s) ever worried or complained about your sexual behavior?

Yes

No

12. Does your sexual behavior potentially offend others, violate community standards, or place you in danger of arrest?

Yes

No

13. Do you ever find yourself “lost” in sexual fantasies and behavior as a way of coping with stress, boredom, loneliness, or other forms of emotional discomfort?

Yes

No

14. Do you keep certain elements of your sexual behavior hidden from partners and/or friends?

Yes

No

15. Do you believe that porn use, casual sex, and similar behavior may have kept you from creating and maintaining a successful long-term intimate relationship?

Yes

No

16. Have you repeatedly engaged in unsafe or “risky” sex?

Yes

No

17. Have you had certain kinds of sex (alone or with a partner) that you later regretted?

Yes

No

18. Does your sexual behavior ever leave you worried about or at risk of contracting or sharing sexually transmitted diseases?

Yes

No

19. Do you find yourself feeling restless, irritable, or discontented when you are unable to engage in certain sexual fantasies and activities?

Yes

No

20. Has your involvement with porn, hookup apps, sex/dating websites, and other online sexual environments become greater than your intimate contact with romantic partners?

Yes

No

21. Has anyone ever been hurt by lies and secrets related to your sexual behavior?

Yes

No

22. Do you ever feel compelled to seek out porn, hookups, and other forms of sexual activity, online or real world, even though you are trying to stop these behaviors?

Yes

No

23. Has the nature and/or intensity of your sexual fantasies and behavior escalated over time?

Yes

No

24. Do you find that you spend more time with sexual fantasies and behavior than you would like?

Yes

No

25. Have you ever been approached by the police, arrested, or charged with a crime related to your sexual behavior?

Yes

No

Scoring-

An overwhelming percentage of positive answers is an indication you should be discussing your behavior with a therapist. A Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT after their name) or a Certified Christian Sex Addiction Specialist is trained and qualified to treat individuals with compulsive sexual disorders and trauma resulting from sexual abuse.

Perhaps you are a concerned significant other, spouse or relative of a sex addict. You also have clinical professionals trained to assist you in your healing journey. Certified Clinical Partner Specialists (CCPS after the professional’s name) or a member of the Association for Partners of Sex Addicts Trauma Specialists (APSATS) have been trained in the treatment of partners of sex addicts. When seeking a clinical professional knowledgeable in sex addiction, ask questions about the training of the psychotherapist or other helping professional. Substance addiction training does not qualify a clinical professional to treat a compulsive sexual disorder.

An affirmative answer to question #12 or #25, regarding illegal sexual behavior, is always a problem. If you answered yes to either of these questions, learn about the mandated reporting laws in your state before speaking to a professional about your challenges. Then , you should seek confidential advice from a licensed professional skilled in handling the disclosure of illegal compulsive sexual actions. Be aware that psychotherapists and other helping professionals (including clerics and lawyers) may have reporting requirements (that can vary from state to state) related to illegal sexual behaviors. Please learn about the reporting laws in your state before speaking to a professional in detail about your challenges.

If you have attempted stopping this behavior on your own but have been unsuccessful and you think you need a break and focus on more concentrated help, look into an inpatient residential program for sex addiction. The Meadows- Gentle Path, Pine Grove Behavioral Health & Addiction Services, Keystone ECU, Seeking Integrity, and Blue Tiger Recovery are inpatient residential programs with excellent reputations.

This Self-Assessment’s original version was written by Robert Weiss, PhD., and Patrick J. Carnes, PhD., in 2010. This version’s Copyright © 2018, Seeking Integrity LLC, Robert Weiss, PhD

To ask Seeking Integrity About Treatment, Call (747) 234-HEAL (4325)

February 23, 2023
Recovery Contagion within the Family
By Bill White

Addiction runs in families, but far less known is the fact that recovery also runs in families. Recovery Contagion is a phenomenon have captured my attention in recent decades and been the focus of numerous articles. Recovery contagion is defined as the recovery from a disease spread by close contact.

Scientific studies are unravelling the factors that combine to elevate risk of intergenerational transmission of addiction and related problems. These mechanisms of transmission include genetic and neurobiological influences, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, assortative mating (attraction of those exposed to parental addition to individuals who share this family history), co-occurring conditions, temperament, developmental and historical trauma, family dynamics (e.g., parental/sibling modeling and collusion), early age of alcohol and other drug (AOD) exposure, and disruption of family rituals. (See Here for review of studies). Rigorous studies have yet to be conducted on the prevalence, patterns, and mechanisms through which addiction recovery of one family member increased the probability of other addicted family members also initiating a recovery process. The purpose of this article is to offer some observations on these issues drawn from decades of observation of families impacted by and recovering from severe and persistent Alcohol or Drug misuse problems. The following suggestions should be viewed as hypotheses to be tested via scientific studies and more expansive clinical observations.
- Innumerable patterns of recovery transmission exist within families. Recovery transmission may occur intergenerationally (e.g., parent to child) and Intragenerationally (between siblings) and reach the extended family and social network. The recovery influence may also be bi-directional, e.g., mother in recovery to addicted child, child in recovery to addicted mother). Recovery transmission, like addiction, can also skip generations.
- The probability of recovery initiation of an addicted family member increases as the density of recovery within an addiction-affected family network increase. The contagiousness of recovery and the push and pull forces towards recovery increase exponentially as other family members initiate recovery and as overall health of the family system improves.
- The mechanisms of recovery transmission within affected families include:
1) infusion into the family of increased knowledge about addiction and recovery by the family member(s) in recovery,

2) withdrawal of family support for active addiction,

3) truth-telling about the addicted family member’s behavior and its effects on the family, 4) elicitation of hope,

5) recovery role modeling,

6) active engagement and recovery guidance by family member(s) in recovery,

7) assertive linkage and co-participation in recovery mutual aid and other recovery support institutions,

8) assistance when needed in accessing professional treatment,

9) post-treatment monitoring and support, and

10) adjustments in family life to accommodate recovery support activities for recovering members and family as a whole.

These individual mechanisms achieve heightened power when sequenced and combined over time.
- Recovery of a family member can spark personal reevaluations of AOD consumption of other family members, resulting in a potential decrease in AOD use and related risk behaviors, even among family members without a substance use disorder. This may constitute a hidden benefit of recovery in lowering addiction-related costs to community and society.
- The recovery contagion effect on other family members exists even when the recovering family member isolated themselves from the family to protect his or her own recovery stability. The family’s knowledge of the reality of his or her continued recovery and its effects on their health and functioning exerts pressure towards recovery even in absence of direct contact.
- One of the most complicated forms of recovery contagion is between intimate partners who both experience AOD problems. The recovery of one partner destabilizes the relationship and increases the probability of recovery initiation of the other; addiction recurrence in one partner increases the recurrence risk in the other partner. Recovery stability is greatest when each partner established their own recovery program in tandem with activities to support “couple recovery.”
- Where conflict exists between a family member in recovery and a family member in active addiction (e.g., a father in recovery and an actively addicted son), the conflict can serve as an obstacle to recovery initiation of the addicted family member. Though recovery initiation may be slowed, recovery prognosis is still increased, and the conflicted relationship is often reconciled when both parties are in recovery. When not reconciled, conflict can continue to be played out via different pathways of recovery.
It is rare to escape injury to family within the addiction experience. Such injuries increase progressively within families in which multiple people are experiencing AOD-related problems. For those of us who find ourselves in such circumstances, the greatest gift we can offer our family is our own recovery.

Related Papers of Potential Interest

Evans, A. C., Lamb, R., & White, W. L. (2014). Promoting intergenerational resilience and recovery: Policy, clinical, and recovery support strategies to alter the intergenerational transmission of alcohol, drug, and related problems. Philadelphia: Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. Posted at http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/pr/2014%20Breaking%20Intergenerational%20Cycles%20of%20Addiction.pdf

Navarra, R. & White, W. (2014) Couple recovery. Posted at http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/blog/2018/03/couple-recovery-robert-navarra-psyd-lmft-mac-and-bill-white.html

White, W. & Savage, B. (2003) All in the Family: Addiction, recovery, advocacy. Posted at http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/pr/2005AllintheFamily.pdf

White, W. (2014) Addiction recovery and intergenerational resilience Posted at http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/blog/2014/07/addiction-recovery-and-intergenerational-resilience.html

White, W. (2017). Family recovery 101. Posted at http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/blog/2017/12/family-recovery-101.html

White, W. Addiction/Recovery as a family tradition. Posted at http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/blog/2017/12/family-recovery-101.html

White, W. (2015) All in the family: Recovery resource review. http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/blog/2015/11/all-in-the-family-recovery-resource-review.html

White, W. L. & Chaney, R. A. (2008). Intergenerational patterns of resistance and recovery within families with histories of alcohol and other drug problems: What we need to know. Posted at http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/pr/2012%20Intergenerational%20Resilience%20%26%20Recovery.pdf

White, W. L. & White. A. M. (2011). Tips for recovering parents wishing to break intergenerational cycles of addiction. Posted at: http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/pr/Tips%20for%20Recovering%20Parents.pdf

About the author:

Bill White published this article on his web site on September 05, 2019.. Bill White is a preeminent researcher on addiction and recovery. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Faces and Voices of Recovery in 2015. William L. White is an Emeritus Senior Research Consultant at Chestnut Health Systems / Lighthouse Institute and past chair of the board of Recovery Communities United. Bill has a master’s degree in Addiction Studies and has worked full time in the addictions field since 1969 as a streetworker, counselor, clinical director, researcher and well-traveled trainer and consultant. He has authored or co-authored more than 400 articles, monographs, research reports and book chapters and 20 books. His book, Slaying the Dragon – The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America, received the McGovern Family Foundation Award for the best book on addiction recovery. Bill was featured in the Bill Moyers’ PBS special “Close to Home: Addiction in America” and Showtime’s documentary “Smoking, Drinking and Drugging in the 20th Century.” Bill’s sustained contributions to the field have been acknowledged by awards from the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, NAADAC: The Association of Addiction Professionals, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and the Native American Wellbriety Movement. Bill’s widely read papers on recovery advocacy have been published by the Johnson Institute in a book entitled Let’s Go Make Some History: Chronicles of the New Addiction Recovery Advocacy Movement.

His web site is: http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/

*Definition of Recovery Contagion:

The recovery from a disease spread by close contact.
March 10, 2022
What do I need to be a recovery coach?
Posted by Melissa Killeen, MSOD, MPhil, NCPRSS

I published the second edition my book Recovery Coaching – A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions in 2019. Since the first edition was released (in 2013) there have been several changes in certification requirements for recovery coaches, or peer recovery specialists. The training of coaches has become one of the fastest growing aspects of the coaching field. So what kind of training do I need to be a recovery coach?

Many of the organizations that offer addiction recovery coach training or peer recovery-support specialist training are listed on my web site . For many people interested in being a recovery coach, the training costs are an important factor. Deciding on the best training organization and the training necessary to fulfill the state certification requirements can be confusing. So I would like to attempt to clear up this confusion and will attempt to answer these questions in this post:

What are the guidelines I must meet to apply for recovery coaching training?

Applicants must meet the following guidelines to apply for a training course in order to be a recovery coach or a peer recovery support-specialist. These guidelines are shared by many training organizations and certification boards across the nation as a standard for what a potential recovery coach must have before applying for recovery coaching training:

High school diploma, GED or higher

Minimum of one year of direct knowledge of sponsorship and 12-step programs

Minimum one year of sobriety from substance use or one year sobriety in co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (self-attestation)

Have a minimum of one year experience working with a family member, loved one or significant other that is addicted, is attempting to recover or who has loss their life due to an addiction(self-attestation)

What kind of training do I need to be a recovery coach?

Certification boards require the coach to receive peer recovery specialist or recovery coach training from an organization that is authorized by the state to give this training. This ensures the training will fulfill the requirements mandated by your state’s certification board. In order to find out what authorized training organizations are, go to your state’s certification board.

After your research, you will need to complete the following:
- Each state and organization has different requirements. So first check with your state to ensure the courses you take will be accepted by the state credentialing board.
- A certain amount of hours in coaching training (46-120 hours depending on the state) in topics such as addiction recovery theory, motivational interviewing, relapse prevention, cultural awareness, suicide prevention and HIV-AIDS education
- 8-16 hours of coaching ethics.
The places in which you receive this training are quite diverse. In the links section of this web site, ( https://www.mkrecoverycoaching.com/recovery-coach-training-organizations/ ) I list over 250 organizations offering recovery coach training. The courses can be virtual, or in a classroom. The costs for this training is diverse as well, from free (in Ohio) up to $4,000 per course. The length of the course could be three days or four months.

At no time does taking a recovery coaching course give you an immediate state certification board recovery-coaching credential. It gives you a document (called a certificate) that says you completed the training hours. There are many coaches who do not seek state board certification and use this document or certificate from a training organization as adequate proof they are knowledgeable in performing the duties of a recovery coach.

There is a central international credentialing organization, the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium, commonly known as the IC & RC, which runs many state credentialing boards and has developed an exam for a Peer Recovery (PR) Certification. The IC & RC suggests applicants check with their state credentialing board for specific test-taking guidelines.

What differentiates a Peer Recovery Coach from a Professional Coach?

Why the “Professional Coach” title? The word “professional” will differentiate Peer Recovery Coaches with more coaching experience and more training from other peer coaches with credentials or certifications. Employers ( e.g., hospitals, providers, prisons) employ coaches, and for these employers the term “Professional” signifies a higher level of competence and expertise.

There are trainings offered that can give a coach more information that may not be on the state certification board list but are very helpful. The kinds of training I found helpful as a new recovery coach are conflict resolution and management, anger management, intervention training, co-occurring disorders, behavioral addictions, the pharmacology of addiction, as well as knowledge about coaching families in relationships with addicted persons. There are also trainings on how to be a recovery coach in a hospital Emergency Department, working with Narcan revived patients, or working with people in prisons or the homeless. There are also organizations that offer Professional Coach certification (CCAR- Conneticut Community of Addiction Recovery, (https://addictionrecoverytraining.org/ ) and the International Coaching Federation that offers three different levels of life coach training: associate, professional- and master-level coaching certificates https://coachingfederation.org/

After you receive this initial Peer Recovery Coach training, additional trainings can open up to you. The more time you engage in being a recovery coach and the more educational credentials you receive; you move closer to the “Professional Coach” status.

Are there any additional credentialing organizations for recovery coaching certification?

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, and the National Certification Commission for Addiction Professionals (NCC-AP) offer the Nationally Certified Peer Recovery Support-Specialist Certification. Similar to the state certification- however- the NAADAC certification is good to use in every state in the union. So a coach does not have to worry about reciprocity from one state to another. The requirements the NAADAC recommends, in order to receive certification, mandates a coach read and sign a statement on the application affirming adherence to the Peer Recovery Support-Specialist Code of Ethics. The new coach will confirm they have taken the NAADAC six-hour ethics training course and have completed six hours of HIV/other pathogens education and training course (also available through NAADAC).Credentialing boards require supervisors of the coaches-in-training to sign a document verifying they have supervised the coach during the 200-hour period of the coach’s practice training. Letters of recommendation are also items required by some credentialing boards. Other state boards require a recent photograph.

NAPS, or National Association for Peer Support is an organization for peers focusing on mental health recovery peer support as well as addiction recovery support. They have education and credentialing standards that are listed at : https://www.peersupportworks.org/.

As always, check with your state credentialing board for specific requirements for credentialing training. Many states only accept training from an organization that have had their trainings screened by the state and authorized to be used as a credentialing training source.

What is the next step in the process of being qualified, getting training, and then credentialed as a recovery coach or peer-recovery support specialist?

After you have completed the research as to what type of credentialling you want (e.g. state certification board, IC & RC or NAADAC), then seek out the training you can afford. Go to https://www.mkrecoverycoaching.com/recovery-coach-training-organizations/ for a list of addiction recovery coach training organizations
1. Verify that you meet the qualifications to apply for the course (e.g. be 18-years-old, have a GED or high school diploma, one year sobriety from any addiction)
2. Take and pass the course, retain the coaching certificate for future purposes
3. Research places like Recovery Community Organizations or treatment centers to work or volunteer as a recovery-coach-in-training to receive your practice hours.
4. Complete the recovery-coach-in-training supervised practice hours that are required by the state board or the NAADAC
5. Apply to your state certification board or the NAADAC for the time to take the recovery coach exam(a fee will apply)
6. Send in your application with paperwork verifying the completion of practice hours to the state credentialing board with a certification fee (the additional fee varies for every state, from $100-$250)
7. If you pass the exam and meet all the requirements listed on the application, you will receive your recovery coaching or peer-recovery support specialist certificate
8. In the next 2 – 4 years take the required courses for renewing this certificate. Refer to your state board or the NAADAC for more information on courses and renewal time frames. A renewal fee will be required.
So, whether you are working as a coach, looking to become one, if you are a family member, or an ally ready to learn about the recovery process, we can promise you the process to become a coach is a transformational experience.

Good luck on your journey.
December 12, 2021