January 12th, 2010
The media is buzzing with the latest news on Tiger Woods allegedly checking himself into “sex rehab.” People Magazine called our Clinical Director, Sharon O’Hara, to ask for her expert opinion on whether or not therapy is right for Woods and if he’s even a sex addict at all:
“Sharon O’Hara, clinical director of the Sexual Recovery Institute of Los Angeles, says she doesn’t know where Woods is, but thinks it’s more likely that he’d have a therapist come to him privately rather than check into a clinic. Still, she adds, he could benefit from being ‘with other guys with the same problem.’
She and Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew, think the fact that the golfer supposedly had months-long affairs with some of his mistresses is evidence of a “love addiction” more than sex obsession.
‘The feature here that has caught everyone’s attention is that he seems to be maintaining relationships with all these people – not just have sex with them,’ says Pinsky. ‘Exactly what’s behind that, that’s the part that hasn’t come out yet … We’re speculating sex and love are the primary issues. They may not be.’
O’Hara agrees, saying, ‘Apparently he also has a need to be adored, to see himself reflected in their eyes and have it mean something.’”
CLICK HERE to read the full article at People.com.
Tags: Love addiction, sex addiction, Sexual Addiction Recovery, Tiger Woods
Posted in Love addiction, Sex Addiction Treatment | No Comments »
December 10th, 2009
When a famous person is known to have been involved in a sex scandal, more often than not the public will blame that individual–particularly if he’s male. However, what many fail to realize, is that “the other woman” can be just as much to blame.
This isn’t to say that they are always to blame, but it’s important to understand both sides of the relationship. More specifically, women can be sex addicts as well as men. Recent research tells us, perhaps surprisingly, that:
- One in 3 visitors to porn sites are women
- 9.4 million women access porn web sites each month
- 13% of women who view pornography admit to looking at pornography at work
Women who engage in some of the very same anonymous or impulsive sexual behavior as male sex addicts most often don’t consider themselves to have a sexual problem. In other words, they don’t see themselves as ’sex addicts’ and in fact resent the term when applied. Women who act out sexually more often frame their eventual problems as being relationship or intimacy problems-’love addiction’ rather than ’sex addiction.’ Much of this has to do with what we call women in our culture who have a lot of sex versus what we call men. For a woman it’s shameful; for a man it’s a badge of pride.
Not suprisingly many female sex addicts are disparaging and devaluing toward men, much as male sex addicts see women more as objects than as people. More than 50% of women in treatment for sexual addiction have some history of being sexually abused themselves, which makes it even easier to distance their sexual acts from the men they use. Part of being a sex addict is distancing yourself from the emotional content and context of the people you have sex with. That’s how you can keep doing it and not feel bad.
Here at the Sexual Recovery Institute we have been providing specific treatment to female sex addicts for many years now, and it is a growing population in our work. We see women separately from the men altogether and this is hard for them because female sex addicts tend to bond more with men than with women and not just sexually.
Our upcoming January IOP, for women only, specifically focuses on a woman’s need to bond with other women in a safe and supportive environment. CLICK HERE to contact us about enrollment.
Tags: Porn addiction, sex addiction, Tiger Woods scandal, women
Posted in About Sex Addiction, Internet porn addiction, Love addiction, Relationship addiction, Sexual addiction in women | No Comments »
