Relationships in Recovery: A Guide for Sex Addicts Who Are Starting Over

A good relationship is supposed to feel loving, happy and safe. Recovering addicts have often experienced intimate relationships that were distorted in major ways by their addiction. In recovery from addiction a new world opens up—one in which love is no longer fraught with conflict, drama, fear and disappointment. A recovering addict often feels frightened at the prospect of looking for a new relationship or repairing an existing one. But the fact is that all the necessary tools, skills and strengths that were gained in recovery can be adapted to this new area. Assuming you have done a lot of the internal work of addiction recovery, you are now ready to go out into the world in order to find a more rewarding and lasting relationship. Here you will find some simple ways to plan and think about the challenges that you will face and the decisions you will need to make. Why not enjoy the fruits of recovery to the fullest?

Linda Hatch has had a long career in clinical psychology including teaching, research, student counseling, child psychology and crisis intervention. In addition she worked for many years through the court system evaluating sex offenders, sexually violent predators and mentally ill offenders. In recent years her work has been in the field of trauma and addiction. Linda is the author of the Kindle book Living with a Sex Addict: The Basics from Crisis to Recovery. She devotes considerable time to her writing which includes blogging on her regular column on PsychCentral.com as well as on her own web site. Linda lives in Santa Barbara, California with her husband, their border collie Perry and their cat Clara.