Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sexual Addiction in Couple and Family Therapy

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy

  • 27 Accesses

Name of Concept

Sexual Addiction

Synonyms

Hypersexuality; Sexual compulsion

Introduction

The publication of the book Out of the shadows: Understanding sexual addiction (Carnes 1983) marked a significant increase in the popularity of the term now called sexual addiction. The explosion of the Internet provided a new arena for potential sexual addiction because it offered increased access to online sex, pornography, sexual chat rooms, and various other sexual avenues (see Griffiths 2001, for a more complete list of internet sexual behaviors). Cooper (1998) highlights that the Internet offers accessibility (24 h a day, 7 days a week), affordability (low-priced or free), and anonymity (people perceive that their communications are unknown, contributing to reduced sexual inhibition). The ease of access, low cost, and anonymity provided by the Internet has opened the door to sexual addiction for many individuals who previously did not struggle with vulnerability to sexual addictive behaviors...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 799.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 999.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • ASAM. (2011). Definition of addiction. Retrieved from http://www.asam.org/quality-practice/definition-of-addiction

  • Bird, M.H. (2009). Sexual addiction and MFT: Therapists’ perspectives on facilitation individual and relationship healing. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, M. H., & Bird, M. H. (2000). Narrative and interactional process for preventing harmful struggle in therapy: An integrative empirical model. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 26, 123–142.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, M. H., & Gardner, B. C. (2003). Adapting enactments to couple reactivity: Five developmental stages. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 29(3), 311–327.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carnes, P. (1983). Out of the shadows: Understanding sexual addiction. Minneapolis: CompCare Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carnes, P. J., Green, B. A., Merlo, L. J., Polles, A., Carnes, S., & Gold, M. S. (2012). PATHOS: A brief screening application for assessing sexual addiction. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 6(1), 29–34. https://doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0b013e3182251a28.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, A. (1998). Sexuality and the Internet: Surfing into the new millennium. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 1, 187–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, M. (2001). Sex on the Internet: Observations and implications for Internet sex addiction. Journal of Sex Research, 38(4), 333–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilton, D. L. (2012). He restoreth my soul. San Antonio: Forward Press Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milrad, R. (1999). Co-addictive recovery: Early recovery issues for spouses of sex addicts. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 6(2), 125–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reid, R. C., & Kafka, M. P. (2014). Controversies about hypersexual disorder and the DSM-5. Current Sex Health Report, 6, 259–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steffens, B., & Means, M. (2009). Your sexually addicted spouse: How partners can cope and heal. Far Hills: New Horizon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe, J. L. (2000). Assessment and treatment of compulsive sex/love behavior. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 18(4), 235–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Healing and Recovery, Lewisville, TX, USA

    Mark H. Bird

Authors
  1. Mark H. Bird
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark H. Bird .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay L. Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony L. Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. Employee Assistance Program, McLeod Health, Florence, SC, USA

    Farrah Hughes

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Allen Sabey

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Bird, M.H. (2019). Sexual Addiction in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_436

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation