The New Year always feels like a fresh start so what better time to think about how you can improve your physical and mental wellbeing? If you’re recovering from sex addiction, there are a number of goals you can set yourself that will not only boost your confidence, but will also aid your therapy and strengthen your relationships
Below are five great New Year’s resolutions for those struggling with sex addiction.
Acknowledge that you have a problem
Acknowledging that you have a sexual addiction is the first step towards getting better. If you’re still in denial, you won’t think you have anything to recover from, you won’t get the help you need and your relationships with friends, family and your partner will continue to deteriorate.
Start a program
Therapy is an integral part of recovering from sex addiction. A professional can help you to deal with the underlying trauma that caused your addiction as well as enable you to learn new, healthier habits and relapse avoidance tactics.
Peer support can also be very helpful. When attending group therapy, you can meet people who know exactly what you’ve been through and who are further into recovery than you are so they can offer valuable tips and advice.
Forgive yourself
Sadly, with sex addiction often comes a stream of lies and betrayal. If you have a partner, it’s more likely than not that you have deeply hurt them. People who struggle with sex addiction often feel a lot of guilt and shame as a result of their condition and it can be very difficult to overcome these emotions. One of the best things you can do to aid your recovery however is to learn to forgive yourself.
A great way to do this is to write out what you’ve done and why you’re so angry at yourself or discuss it with your therapist or a trusted friend. Once you’ve been open with your feelings, get into the habit of giving yourself credit whenever you’ve done something right. You may have hurt or lied to people in the past but acknowledge how far you’ve come in your recovery and how much you’re doing to try and rebuild your relationships.
Establish a good support network
It may sound obvious, but the more support you have, the less likely you are to relapse. While you’re in sex addiction recovery, it’s very important to establish a good network of people who care about you and for whom you care about too. These are the very people you will be able to turn to when you’re finding things difficult and who will be more than happy to try and keep you busy with healthy alternatives that will stop you from going back to bad and dangerous habits.
Identify your triggers
A lot of the things we do even in everyday life is triggered by something. If you’re feeling a bit down for example, you may go on a crazy night out with friends to let off some steam or perhaps you seek solace in a large bar of chocolate.
When you’re recovering from sexual addiction it’s important to identify what triggers you to relapse or feel tempted to do so. Maybe it’s when you’re stressed out about money, have an argument with your partner or are feeling insecure. Identifying your triggers is possibly the most valuable thing you can do to help your recovery from sex addiction.
If you think that you or someone you know could benefit from sex addiction treatment, please feel free to contact Toronto Trauma and Addiction Counselling for more information about the signs, symptoms and different treatments that are available.
