Sexual Addiction and Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR)

An Introduction

Kadie McCourt

• Publisher: Loving Healing Press
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9781615998739
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Addiction in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

"Sexual addiction is strongly anchored in shame and trauma. Research conducted over the past fifteen years has consistently shown the prevalence of emotional, physical and sexual abuse in this population" (Cox & Howard, 2007, p. 1). As well, there is also high co-morbidity of sexual addiction with other addictive disorders. An additional layer of sexual addiction is the underlying shame associated with the actions and behaviors the client engages in for this addiction. This intense shame is likely to fuel and perpetuate the cycle of the addiction. With such a strong link, it is important for clinicians to address the underlying trauma while assisting clients with sexual addiction (Cox & Howard, 2007).

To assist clients in overcoming a sexual addiction there are minimal options. Unlike gambling where absolute abstinence from the behavior is the desired effect, this type of a decision regarding sex will hinder a healthy relationship. One strategy is to use a Sexual Boundary Plan (Weiss, 2004). Fortunately, with Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) and related techniques, this is not the only strategy to assist clients with a sexual addiction.

It is important to remember that a sexual addiction is similar to alcoholism in that the individual uses sex to cope with pain and numb difficult feelings. For the sex addict, sex is mood altering like a drug, and the individual needs more and more to achieve the same elevated feeling. Often this results in more frequent sexual behaviors and increased risks. Sex becomes the focus in a person's life and thus there is no room for healthy relationships. In addition to abuse experiences, other traumas for the sexual addict are betrayal, abandonment or rejection. "If the betrayal is severe enough, trauma results. Fear and terror become the catalyst that allows betrayal to move into the area of trauma" (Cox & Howard, 2007, p.6).

From the Metapsychology Monographs Series

Sexual Addiction and TIR

by Kadie McCourt, M.A.

The following report is a transcription of Kadie McCourt’s presentation at the 2011 TIRA Technical Symposium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

According to Niko Tinbergen (1951), a Nobel Prize winning ethologist, we can understand four aspects of behavior: mechanism, development, evolution, and adaptation.

•Mechanism refers to the region of the brain that controls the particular behavior. Scientists have pinpointed many regions of brain, such as the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex. Each of these influences thoughts, and the creation of individual goals.

•Development is connected with age; thus if a person is young, we may explain inappropriate behavior, such as excessive drinking or strong interest in sex, as being due the individual’s age, and believe it is because their brain has not developed completely, especially since the brain is not fully formed till age 21. This is often the case when explaining behaviors of teenagers as their frontal lobe is undergoing the formation stage.

•Evolution, in this context, is the expected behaviors in our society; for example to be sexually active prior to marriage is acceptable in our society, but fifty years ago, it was not.

•Adaptation happens when we modify our behavior to fit our environment. For example, it may be acceptable to check out the girls at the bar, but that behavior will bring serious consequences at work.

These four factors influence our perceptions of addiction in society. For example, males who choose to have multiple sexual partners tend to be viewed with the same negative stigma that females have had for decades. Yet, in the gay/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgender/queer (GLBTQ) society, having many sexual partners can be acceptable. Thus defining an addiction, especially a behavioral addiction, can be very difficult as the behavior needs to be assessed based on Tinbergen’s four criteria. In different settings and different cultures, particular behaviors may be more acceptable than others and some may be shunned. Thus, in determining whether a behavior is an addiction, it is very helpful to consider if it has a negative impact on oneself, can harm others, or has a negative impact on one’s relationships. Defining a behavioral addiction, such as a sexual addiction, needs to meet the same criteria as a substance addiction, with the behavior substituting for a substance.

According to Erikson & Wilcox (2001), our brain mechanisms influence whether we will have an addiction. It seems a dysregulation of brain chemistry results in a dependence on the drug of choice for the individual (Erikson & Wilcox, 2001). For example, cocaine affects the dopamine receptors and tells the body to flush more into the system; the body stops using its own signals for the amounts to flush into the system and the individual becomes dependent on cocaine. Heroin does the same with endorphins, which act like morphine; thus individuals in a lot of pain are susceptible to heroin addiction. Alcohol affects serotonin, GABA, acetylcholine, endorphins, glutamate, and dopamine. All of these are neurotransmitters in the brain, which tell our brain and body how to behave and function. Many of them, such as serotonin, endorp...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Sexual Addiction and TIR
• Sexual Boundary Plan
• Sexual Boundary Plan – An Example
• Women’s Sexual Addiction Screening Test
• The Male Sexual Screening Addiction Test
• Treatment of Sexual Addiction – Partner’s Response
• Behavioral Checklist
• Recovery
• Appendix: Cyber Sex -- An Introduction
• References
• TIR Glossary
• Metapsychology Monographs Series