Sexual Addiction Case Study

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Developing a treatment plan for a client who suffers from a controversial disorder such as sexual addiction (SA) is daunting for an uninformed counselor. In the case of Robert, the first challenge will be in helping him understand that he is a sexual addict despite the fact that it is not recognized by the American Psychological Association (Grand Canyon University (GCU) PCN-481 Lectures 4 & 8, 2013). Although no formal diagnostic criteria for SA appears in the DSM-5, one could hardly argue that Robert meets the adapted qualifications developed by Goodman (1992; as cited by Garcia & Thibaut, 2010) as well as for Kafka’s list of Hypersexual Disorder traits (2010; as cited by Garcia & Thibaut, 2010). Treatment of sexual addiction is a field in …show more content…
Pharmacology is sometimes included in these, but Robert is not amenable to using prescription medications for having had previous undesirable results with antidepressants. Robert’s depression, probably due to the guilt and shame of sexually acting out his urges, is symptomatic of a person whose behavior is incongruent with core values (Hall, 2011). His resistance to medication is not a barrier to treatment if adequate measures of inner motivation and psychological support can be harnessed (Garcia & Thibaut, 2010). His anxiety and depression should alleviate as he maintains fidelity to his wife and to a sexual ideal that aligns with his belief system (Hall, 2011). If his depressive bouts seem to have a neurochemical basis and continue to occur despite accomplishing his treatment goals, the idea of using an antidepressant can be revisited at a later stage of …show more content…
Meanwhile, meditation mindfulness exercises can prevent relapses by allowing Robert to have a calm, objective awareness of sexual thoughts and impulses without a need to act on them (Klontz, Garos & Klontz, 2005). A behavioral contingency plan should be discussed with Robert in which, should he have a slip or relapse, he agrees to immediately recommit to pursuing his treatment goals (a behavioral contingency plan can be used to help Robert immediately recommit to pursuing his treatment goals (Giudice & Kutinsky, 2007, citing Bux & Irwin,
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