Why Therapy for Lust Addiction?
When a man comes to us for help, we normally speak to them about what we call the four pillars of recovery. These pillars are the activities a recovering addict will likely need to immerse themselves in to recover from lust. They are: 1. A minimum of a short term workshop (4-5 days) to get the necessary running start to begin changing patterns of thinking and behavior. (Some will need residential treatment) 2. Therapy to address their individual trauma and attachment to addiction. 3. A 12 Step group in order to work an ongoing program and 4. A Christian mentor willing to walk alongside them in the painful, often lonely, and difficult early days.
But is therapy necessary? Isn’t the gospel, healing prayer and 12 Step recovery enough? Our experience tells us the answer is often “no.” The reason is that our individual trauma, often encountered early in life, is the story God desires to change and heal. This takes individualized work. But unless our story of pain is brought out into the light and detached from the lust to which we turned, and may still be turning, we normally cannot be free. Our 12 Step programs can empower us not to turn to lust. Our therapy can help us detach from it. Like the children of Israel in Egypt, we must paint the blood of the lamb over our own particular lintel and doorpost to see the angel of death pass over. Under the kind and diligent work of an understanding therapist, the “buried treasure” of our individual trauma can be unearthed and detached from lust. One size does not fit all. A good therapist with a Christian worldview can help us do this important work.
Between the ages of nineteen and forty-five, I sought therapy intermittently and found it helpful, mostly because it helped me deal with current issues. Some of it was connected to training for ministry, Recently, I felt the need to return as some of the old childhood ghosts reappeared. We are all different and not all of us will seek therapy. But it can provide significant help at the right time in our recovery.
We will be discussing more about this at our third annual Northeast Florida Men’s Conference with Jay Stringer on Saturday, February 29th, 2020. Save the date. More info later in the year.
In the Lust-Bearer,
Jay Haug
Executive Director
Living Without Lust Inc.
Email: jay@livingwithoutlust.com
