Psychodynamic approach to addiction therapy emphasizes how an individual’s past events, thoughts, and circumstances shape present behaviors. It’s thought that these past events result in unconscious processes that cause a person to act in a particular manner.
For instance, individuals who have experienced abuse in the past may exhibit behaviors that inhibit the development of healthy relationships. Such unresolved conflicts may lead to destructive behaviors.
This is particularly salient considering that approximately 80% of sex addicts report having experienced some form of abuse as a child. Additionally, problems with attachment in early relationships may also be a predisposing factor in the development of sexual addiction. A significant body of research highlights that individuals with addictive disorders came from families with either very rigid beliefs and boundaries or little to no boundaries at all.
At Full Heart Recovery one of the goals of treatment is to work through past experiences in order to overcome the current addiction.
Only once a person has stopped acting out with sex or substances can they begin to do the deeper therapeutic work of understanding the psychological underpinnings of their addiction and begin to understand themselves in a nonjudgmental and more authentic manner.