Treating sex offenders using the sex addiction model

Abstract We treat sex offenders using the sex addiction model. Not all sex offenders are sex addicts, and vice versa. And the definition of a sexual offense is a legal, not a psychological, one. But much sexual addictive behavior is “offensive,” and the need for greater amounts of sexual experience may place the sex addict at increasingly greater risk of crossing the legal boundary. As a result, we believe that utilizing the sex addiction model in treating sex offense behavior strengthens other proven modalities by addressing core issues that fuel the unhealthy behavior. Additionally, we believe that long-term relapse prevention can better occur by improving patients' understanding of themselves and the etiology of their disorder, in addition to eliciting genuine changes in behavior, cognition, and emotion. Although we focus on behavioral change and relapse prevention, the addiction model addresses the issue of sexual compulsivity from a perspective that incorporates the spiritual component as a foundatio...