Treating Out of Control Sexual Behavior: Rethinking Sex Addiction

Winner of 2018 SSTAR Health Professional Book Award presented by The Society for Sex Therapy and Research (SSTAR) Health Professional Book Award Committee.

"I have been waiting for a book that would offer a sex-positive, non-judgmental, and non-pathologizing alternative approach for working with "sex addiction." Doug Braun-Harvey and Michael Vigorito aim men forward toward their sexual health with this refreshing critical, and compassionate model to help those in the grip of problematic sexual behavior. This book will change your thinking and your clinical work at the intersection of sexuality and psychotherapy."

-Esther Perel, LMFT, Author of Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence

This groundbreaking book reconsiders popular notions of addictive sex. Braun-Harvey and Vigorito's sexual health psychotherapy protocol is an innovative treatment approach for men experiencing sexual lives beyond their control. "Out of control sexual behavior" (OCSB) is defined as a sexual health problem in which consensual sexual urges, thoughts, or behaviors feel out of control. As opposed to a clinical disorder, OCSB is framed as a behavioral problem within the normal range of sexual expression.

The book provides step-by-step tools for assessment, treatment planning, and implementation stemming from the authors' work with hundreds of individual and group therapy clients. OCSB treatment matches individual and group therapy interventions with current motivational interviewing and readiness-for-change research. Further, this approach emphasizes the clinician's ethical responsibility to provide the most effective treatment while protecting client sexual rights and welcoming sexual diversity. Rich and varied composite case examples demonstrate clinical sexual health treatment conversations as well as stories of hope and guidance to understand how sexual health is an ally for changing OCSB.

Key Features:

• Presents a much-needed sexual health alternative to conventional thinking about assessing and treating OCSB
• Posits OCSB as a sexual health behavior problem rather than a process addiction or psychosexual disorder
• Promotes sexual health principles as the framework to envision and guide men's sexual behavior change
• Includes a practical, step-by-step pathway model to assess and treat OCSB
• Organizes a wide range of best-practice clinical interventions for individual and group psychotherapy
• Includes composite case examples demonstrating successful treatment outcomes

Douglas Braun-Harvey, LMFT, CGP, CST, is a sexual health author, trainer, and psychotherapist who bridges sexual and mental health and facilitates organizational change. In 2013, Doug Braun-Harvey cofounded The Harvey Institute, an international education, training, consulting, and supervision service for improving health care through integration of sexual health.

Michael A. Vigorito, LMFT, LCPC, CGP, is a sexual health consultant, author, and psychotherapist.