Breaking Free from Love Addiction

Terrie was a child born from an extramarital affair. Growing up, she felt like she was unwanted by everyone in her family except her mother. As an adult, she found herself reaching a low point in her life, and tried working with several different therapists. Because of her family history, and because of her skill as therapist herself, she was able to mask her true feelings really, really well. So, her attempts at individual therapy failed.

Feeling hopeless and desperate for change, she went to The Meadows. Learn how the program helped her find her power and break free from false beliefs and love addiction.

The Quiet Desperation of Sex Addiction

The ways in which we teach men to “be real men” in our society limits their ability to openly discuss their sexuality and the range of complicated feelings and experiences they have had related to their sexuality. As a consequence, they often carry the burdens of shame, painful memories of unwanted or confusing sexual experiences, overwhelming or conflicted emotions. This can often lead to men seeking relief through compulsive or unhealthy sexual behaviors, drugs, alcohol, and more. 

 

A man in recovery from sex and drug addiction wrote the following essay for The Meadows Alumni newsletter more than 10 years ago, but the experiences he describes are still all too common among men today…

One Man’s Struggle with Sex Addiction

I was scared. I was lonely. I was a little boy. My father was a college professor. My mother was college educated. I have two younger brothers and a younger sister. We had plenty of food and clothes. We got birthday presents. Santa Claus came to see us. We were a very distant family, like ships passing in the night. We rarely hugged. We rarely expressed emotion. We rarely talked about what was going with us as individuals or as a family. I was scared. I was lonely.

I remember that, when I reached puberty, a neighbor boy showed me masturbation. I masturbated a lot. Now I wasn't so scared, and I wasn't so lonely. I found a magazine. It was just an ordinary magazine with a picture of a woman in a bikini. It became my first pornography. I wasn't so scared, and I wasn't so lonely. When I was a sophomore in high school, I started drinking and, from the beginning, I drank alcoholically. I wasn't so scared. I wasn't so lonely.

The workshop is well-suited for men who want to jump-start their recovery process, prevent relapse, or acquire more tools and resources to support their continuing recovery. Our intake specialists would be happy to answers any questions you may have about the workshop or The Meadows sex addiction treatment programs. Give us a call anytime at 866-986-3225.

Eating Disorder Recovery Is a Work in Progress

By Jessica Setnick, MS, RD, CEDRD, Senior Fellow at Remuda Ranch at The Meadows

When my eating was in crisis mode, my life was reduced to meals, hours, minutes. I may have planned my eating and exercise for days in advance, but the reality was that I spent my time worrying about what I would eat, regretting what I had eaten, and wondering if I would stick to the rules I had set for myself the next time.

Once I committed to recovery, I hoped for a brighter future, but all I could see before me were meals, hours, and minutes where I had to fight the urge to use my behaviors and somehow find the strength to get through the day.

Life Beyond Your Eating Disorder Workshop

Now I have combined my professional knowledge with my own experience of recovery to create Life Beyond Your Eating Disorder, an intensive, five-day workshop, held at the Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows. It is a concentrated dose of time that allows for more experiences, creative expression, and peer support in a place where you are safe to be your truest self with a leader to guide your introspection, describe how you got where you are, help you to imagine how you want life to be, and help you to see that others are on this journey as well. You will return to recovery with a renewed sense of possibility, a deeper understanding of yourself, and a recognition of areas that still need work.

Things to You Should Never Say to the Partners of Sex Addicts

When news of former Congressman Anthony Weiner’s latest indiscretions broke, some of the public’s speculation immediately turned to his wife, Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin who was reportedly separating from him. 

 

 

If it’s difficult for some people to understand why Weiner would continue to send semi-nude photos to women on social media after having been caught before, it’s perhaps even more difficult for them to understand why Abedin continued her relationship with him after his first offense.

Vicki Tidwell Palmer, LCSW, has written a great article for the Huffington Post that points out how humiliating and gut-wrenching certain questions and comments can be for the sexually compulsive person’s partner. She offers a list of five well-intentioned but wrong-headed comments people often make to the betrayed partner and explains why you should never make them.
Number one on her list: “You should have left him a long time ago.”
Read the rest of the list on HuffingtonPost.com.

Help for Betrayed Spouses and Partners

The Healing Intimate Treason workshop at the Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows gives partners of sex addicts a voice as they travel on their own journey in recovery. The workshop was developed in collaboration with Meadows Senior Fellow Claudia Black, Ph.D. and author of Deceived: Facing Sexual Betrayal, Lies, and Secrets and Intimate Treason.

During the 5-day workshop, people affected by their partners’ sexual compulsions begin the process of healing from the pain and humiliation of betrayal. Workshop participants learn how to move through their grief and sense of loss, break free from their attachment to fantasy, and enhance their emotional self-regulation.

The Rio Retreat Center also offers the Strengthening Coupleship and Discovery to Recovery workshops for those who are interested in repairing their relationships or learning how to split up amicably.
For more information, give us a call at 866-331-3368. Our specialists would be happy to answer any questions you have. Be sure to ask about our special 25 percent discount offer that lasts until Sept 30!

Source Link : Addiction