However, when looking for a good treatment center you may want to ask the following questions to make sure the center focuses on sexual addiction and not just substance or chemical dependency.

Here are some questions you should ask when looking for a good sex addiction treatment program:

1. Does the center focus on sexual addiction and have trained staff who have experience in working with sexual addiction?
2. How much time is spent in group work?
3. How big are the groups? Are there groups available for couples?
4. Are 12-step meetings available while in treatment?
5. How much therapy time focuses on sexual addiction?
6. Are the substance dependent groups and sexual addiction groups combined?
7. What training or background does the staff have in relationship to treating a sexual addiction?
8. How does the center incorporate families and others into the treatment plan? How much one on one and couple treatment is available?
9. How much education is involved in the program. Education about sexual addiction if very helpful. It is critical to learn how the addiction forms and what can be done about the addiction.
10. Are groups available for spouses or partners?

Focus of Sexual Addiction Treatment

As with any addiction, the first step is to stop the addictive behavior. This requires a significant amount of support (12-step groups, family, social support) and one on one therapy. In severe cases sexual addiction is only able to be curtailed in a structed environment such as an in-patient facility. Once the acting out behavior has been stopped, the next step is to increase the awareness inside the individual and work to support the entire system (family).

The second step is to gain awareness into self and the addiction itself. Treatment providers use education to help the sexual addict undertand how sex has become an addiction in the mind. Personal insight into the problem is another key compenent of the second step. With increased awareness comes emotional pain and discomfort. Most sex addicts have lost something that they genuinely value such as a spouse, their job, the respect of their child, or something else. This awareness can be very painful and often requires a good support system to avoid relapsing into old behaviors while in pain.

Treatment Centers

Here is a list of three of the best sex addiction treatment centers in the United States.

1. Sexual Recovery Institute

The Sexual Recovery Institute is headed by Robert Weiss LCSW, CAS. Mr. Weiss spent four years training under the direction of Patrick Carnes, Ph.D. (the leading researcher on sexual addiction), providing inpatient clinical services for the treatment of sexual addicts and sexual offenders.

Many services are available for sex addicts and their partners. The Sexual Recovery Institute offers the following services:

• Individual treatment
• Group treatment
• Couples treatment
• Partners and spouses treatment
• Intensive outpatient treatment
• Phone and online treatment