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Powerful Strategies: How to Help Someone With a Pornography Addiction
It’s time to let go of frustration and feeling stuck! Discover powerful ways to help someone you love finally overcome pornography addiction.
How to Help Someone with a Porn Addiction
Trust us, we know what it’s like to struggle with trying to figure out how to help someone with a porn addiction! There are a number of challenges that can arise for individuals struggling with a pornography addiction and for their loved ones who are trying to help. It can be difficult for them to open up and seek help, but as a friend or family member, there are ways you can support them on their journey towards recovery.
At Desert Solace, we’re here to not only provide the very best pornography and sex addiction rehabilitation solutions to varying patients, but also to offer expertise and advice on how to help someone with a porn addiction or sex addiction. We know how difficult it can be to watch someone you care about struggle with this addiction, and we want to help you learn how to support them in the most effective way possible. What can you do if you’re in this position to help someone dealing with a porn addiction?
Don't Shame Them
You might think that making someone feel guilt and shame for looking at pornography would help them see the consequences of their actions. If they feel a lot of shame and guilt for looking at porn, they’ll want to stop looking at it right?
It doesn’t really work that way. If you take a step back and put yourself into the shoes of the person struggling with porn, you might realize that they are already suffering from loads of shame. Chances are, they know that they don’t want to look at porn but they’ve tried to stop on their own hundreds or thousands of times. This can be crushing to a person’s self-esteem. They probably feel broken, defective and depressed as a result.
All of these negative feelings can cause a lot of pain in the life of someone who is addicted to pornography. By adding to their sense of shame and worthlessness, you might just end up aggravating the problem rather than helping. You want to be a safe person for your loved one to talk to. You want them to trust you because that’s the best way for you to be there when they are finally ready to get help.
Helping Someone with a Porn Addiction Requires an Approach With Love and Compassion
When talking to your loved one about their pornography addiction, it’s important to approach the topic with love and compassion. Avoid shaming or blaming them for their addiction as this can often lead to feelings of guilt and shame, which may cause them to withdraw further. Instead, try to understand that they are struggling with a real issue and that they need support and understanding.
Educate Yourself about Porn Addiction
One of the best places to start learning how to help someone with a porn addiction is to empower yourself. It’s important to educate yourself about pornography addiction so that you have a better understanding of what your loved one is going through. This will not only help you approach the topic with more knowledge but also allow you to provide better support and guidance for your loved one.
Gauge Your Loved Ones' Openness to Getting Help
As you’re talking to your loved one about their addiction, it’s important to gauge their openness and readiness to seek porn addiction help. It’s crucial that they are ready and willing to make a change in order for any treatment or support to be effective.
Be patient and understanding as they may not be immediately open to the idea of getting help. However, continue offering your love and support and gently encourage them to consider seeking professional help.
And in situations where someone is not particularly receptive to help, it’s important to take a supportive but firm stance and not enable their addiction. This can include setting boundaries and limits, and being honest about how their addiction is affecting you and your relationship with them.
Setting - and Sticking to - Boundaries
Speaking of boundaries, they’re an important aspect of supporting someone with a pornography addiction. It’s important to set clear boundaries and communicate them effectively, such as not allowing any pornography or sexual materials in the shared living space.
Finding a Support Group for Pornography Addiction or Sex Addiction
You might not know everything there is to know about how to help someone with a porn addiction, but there are people out there who have struggled with porn addiction in the past and have learned way to overcome it. In fact, there are many different support groups where people meet regularly to help each other find lasting recovery from porn or sex addiction.
Some groups that I can personally recommend are Sexaholics Anonymous, which is a 12-step group for people who struggle with sexual addiction such as pornography addiction; SA Lifeline, which is a similar 12-step group but includes a more spiritual component to their meetings than Sexaholics Anonymous; and the LDS Church’s Addiction Recovery Program.
Each of these groups has their advantages, and you should encourage your loved one to attend several different groups until they find one that works for them. It will be important to your loved one’s recovery to become integrated in a community that can help them overcome their pornography addiction.
Encourage Professional Help From a Porn Addiction Specialist
One key to understanding how to help someone with a porn addiction is coming to a realization that it takes more than just your love and support to get lasting recovery for your loved one. It’s important to encourage your loved one to seek professional help for their pornography addiction. A trained therapist or counselor can provide specialized treatment and support that is tailored to their individual needs.
Remember that not all therapists specialize in treating porn addiction. One way to know if they have received proper training for treating porn or sex addiction is if they are a “Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist” (CSAT). CSAT therapists go through a rigorous training process and then through hundreds of hours of supervision to learn how to effectively treat sex addiction. Our clinical director at Desert Solace is a CSAT therapist.
Wrap-up
If you are stuck and wondering how to help someone with a porn addiction, Desert Solace is here for you. We specialize in helping those struggling with pornography and sex addiction find lasting recovery. Contact us today for more information on how we can support you or your loved one on the road to recovery.
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