In February, Elements Behavioral Health, The Ranch and the Sexual Recovery Institute hosted an event designed to help clinicians attending the 7th Annual IITAP Symposium understand how media portrayals of sex addiction have changed over the years and how desensitized we have become to the sexual images we regularly see.
Magic fills the air when the holidays come around. Nostalgic movies paint pictures of the family gathered around the Christmas tree singing carols or couples snuggled up by the fire, while holiday songs ring out with peace, joy and the spirit of giving. For some blessed families, these images may be a reality, but for many people, day-to-day life is slightly shy of perfect.
A sex addict is someone who continues to engage in sexual behaviors, even when they have physical, career, legal or emotional consequences. For some sex addicts, the sexual behaviors consume time, energy or focus that was traditionally used for other things such as work or family. For sex addicts, the sexual behavior runs counter to the person’s core values and beliefs, so much so that they promise themselves and others that the current episode is the absolute last time they will behave this way, albeit with disappointing follow through.
By Robert Weiss LCSW, CSAT-S
What do you think?
Just as concrete and predictable diagnostic criteria help medical professionals determine whether your burning stomach pain is a case of chili-induced heartburn or appendicitis, so do categories of well-researched mental health symptoms provide the scientific underpinning for the identification of psychiatric and emotional disorders. New mental health diagnosis are not arbitrarily determined, but come about as consistent sets of reliable sample data are codified through years of repeatable clinical research and study. This is the science of diagnosis. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM, renewed or revised in sporadic 10 to 20 year increments is, as every trained psychotherapist knows, the diagnostic ‘bible’ of mental health. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) through their various working groups and committees will deliver a shiny new DSM 5, the formal guide that will differentiate and re-standardize our definition of mental health for at least a decade to come.
By Robert Weiss LCSW, CSAT-S
Dating seems to confound the even the most rational among us. Dan, a 31-year old sociology professor put it this way, “I don’t know what it is about me, I can teach classes about the meaning of relationships, but I can’t seem to actually get one of my own going. I go on a few dates; maybe it gets hot with women or another for a while, but eventually just end up right back where I started… single! Usually I give up in frustration for a while, just to start all over again. I can’t figure out why I haven’t gotten hitched. Is something wrong with me or are there just no good women out there?”
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