The National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity has defined sexual addiction as "...engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior acted out despite increasing negative consequences to self and others." Therefore, people addicted to sex continue to engage in certain sexual behaviors despite facing potential health risks, financial problems, shattered relationships, and even arrest.

When sex becomes a problem, it can push people to do things they would not normally do if they were not suffering from an addiction. Behavioral addictions can be challenging to manage. The pages of this workbook are filled with assessments, activities, and journaling exercises that can help your clients or students overcome a sexual addiction and teach them essential skills aimed at helping them repair problems in their lives caused by a preoccupation with sex.

The purpose of The Sex Addiction Workbook is to provide helping professionals with cognitive and behavioral assessments, tools, and exercises that can be utilized to treat the root psychological causes of a sex addiction. It is designed to help people identify and change negative, unhealthy thoughts and behaviors that may have led to sex addiction. The activities contained in this workbook can help participants identify the triggers that can lead to a preoccupation with sex and teach them ways to manage and overcome those triggers.

The Sex Addiction Workbook will help participants to:

• Recognize that they are experiencing an addiction problem.
• Reflect and become aware of the behaviors that were part of and arose from the addiction.
• Build self-esteem in positive capabilities outside of sexual behavior.
• Understand the triggers for preoccupation with sex.
• Develop greater self-acceptance and the ability to change ineffective behaviors.
• Understand recurring patterns that indicate a sex disorder.
• Learn ways to live a new life without a preoccupation with sex.

The Sex Addiction Workbook is a practical tool for teachers, counselors, and helping professionals in their work with people suffering with behavioral addictions. Depending on the role of the person using this workbook and the specific group's or individual's needs, the modules can be used either individually or as part of an integrated curriculum. The facilitator may choose to administer one activity to a group or administer some of the assessments over one or more days as a workshop.

The Five Modules

This workbook contains five separate modules of activity-based handouts that will help participants learn more about themselves and about their addiction to sex and sex-related behaviors. These modules serve as avenues for self-reflection and group experiences revolving around topics of importance in the lives of the participants in the group.

The activities in this workbook are user-friendly and varied to provide a comprehensive way of analyzing, strengthening, and developing characteristics, skills, and attitudes for overcoming an addiction to sex.

The activities in this workbook are completely reproducible and can be photocopied and/or revised for direct participant use.

Module 1: Sex Addiction Behaviors

Module 2: Social Aspects of a Sex Addiction

Module 3: Escaping Emotional Pain

Module 4: Loss of Control

Module 5: A Hopeful Future