Options for Therapy & Support

Individual Therapy

Our approach to therapy with partners of sex addicts starts with an individual assessment and interview that includes taking a biological, psychological and social history. In the assessment we specifically screen for trauma symptoms that may have been triggered from the client’s past and recent history. In the early stages of therapy, much of the focus will center on helping the partner feel safe within the context of their relationship, providing education about sex addiction, and developing tools for healthy coping. Concurrently the therapist will help clients establish boundaries that they can implement with regard to how the sex addict interacts with them. We find that partners of sex addicts need to feel safe in terms of their home, finances, and family lives before they can begin to heal. Throughout therapy, the client and therapist will develop goals so that the partner can begin to make choices from an empowered position rather than a place of crisis. In many cases if the sex addict continues to grow and mature in their own recovery, the relational dynamic between the couple moves towards deeper intimacy and reestablishing trust. In this case, the couple may decide to begin marriage and couples therapy with one of our trained therapists.

Trauma Therapy

For partners of sex addicts to heal and work towards either relationship repair, forgiveness, separation or even divorce, it is essential that they begin to address the traumatic injury they have experienced as a result of the sex addict’s behavior. At Full Heart Recovery, our therapists are trained in numerous trauma interventions such as Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Schema Therapy, neurofeedback and biofeedback.

Couples Therapy

Many couples that have been impacted by sex addiction choose to engage in couples therapy with one of our Certified Sex Addiction Therapists. Couples impacted by sex addiction present with a number of different issues that are unique to their circumstances. Sex addicts naturally struggle with intimacy and often separate the essential components of intimacy such as vulnerable communication, empathy, sensuality, honesty and sex with their spouses.

Discernment Counseling

This type of counseling helps the couple decide if they want to work on repairing their marriage or move towards divorce. If a couple decides that they want to divorce, the therapist will help the couple terminate their marriage in a respectful, amicable fashion that aims to honor each individual’s needs. If a couple with children decides to divorce, Full Heart Recovery offers consultation session with our licensed child psychologist who can provide guidance in helping the couple develop healthy communication with and for their children.