Sex Addiction

C-SASI works from the understanding that the term “sexual addiction” is a limited one that does not fully encapsulate the scope of the problem it is attempting to describe. While in many cases, classic patterns of addiction are present, in some cases the behaviors associated with the sex addiction appear to stem more from trauma re-enactment, neurological damage, intimacy avoidance issues or mental illness.

While most of today’s sex addiction models focus on a person’s relationship with behaviors such as porn use, affairs, purchasing of sexual services, paraphilias etc., we encourage our members to take an objective, subjective and principled perspective* on the sexual behaviors. The latter would include taking into account a Christian perspective on issues such as lust and self-gratification.

Working from this understanding of “sex addiction,” we equip pastoral and clinical practitioners to assist any person who perceives they are being harmed by their own, an intimate partner’s, or a parent's sexual patterns. We suggest using whatever terminology feels most comfortable to those seeking that assistance.

Partner Trauma

C-SASI supports working with partners of sex addicts using the Multi-Dimensional Partner Trauma Model developed by APSATS. Founded on sound research, the trauma model has been tested by numerous clinicians for over a decade and has been proven to greatly benefit betrayed partners and their sex addict spouses/partners. Moreover, the principles espoused in this model align with today’s pastoral care best practices, making it an excellent model for the Christian practitioner.

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*Herring, Bill (2018). A framework for categorizing chronically problematic sexual behavior: Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity 24(4), p. 242-247, DOI: 10.1080/10720162.2017.1394947