Is Sex Addiction a Real Thing?

By:  Carol Juergensen Sheets, LCSW, PCC, CSAT People oftentimes “scoff” at the notion that one can have a sexual addiction. They understandably feel that sexual misbehavior results from a society that believes in immediate gratification. Most people don’t understand sexual addiction and have no idea that people who suffer… Read More

Transpersonal Deprivation

“Longing is the core of mystery. Longing itself brings the cure. The only rule is, Suffer the pain. Your desire must be disciplined, and what you want to happen in time, sacrificed.” -Rumi I’m often aware of the feeling of deprivation, of a sense that I need something outside myself… Read More

The Role of Shame in Addiction

By Meadows Senior Fellow John Bradshaw, MA Addiction has been defined as a pathological relationship to any mood-altering substance, experience, relationship, or thing with life-damaging consequences. Addiction is pathological because it is rooted in denial. There is no other disease where the worse it gets, the more the patient… Read More

Partners of Sex Addicts Need Boundaries Too

By Carol Juergensen Sheets, LCSW, CSAT, PCC Sexual addiction is such a complex problem and unfortunately it like all addictive disorders effects the entire family. As I did an in-service last night for professionals that wanted to know more about the disease, I was asked if sexual addiction was… Read More

Why Does a Sex Addict Act Out?

Sexual addiction is like all addictions devastating to the addict and his or her family. It is considered an intimacy disorder because it affects the natural process that occurs when two people love each other and work on building ongoing closeness, communication, and trust. I recently received an email… Read More

Facing the Truth Behind the Mask

“Recovery is about living more in truth than in lies. It’s about facing reality and growing up.” Pia Mellody Over 2,500 years ago, in Athens, Greece, playwrights like Sophocles introduced a form of theatrical art known as tragedy. Greek tragedies typically dealt with weighty themes such… Read More

John Bradshaw: Being Nobody Special – The Spiritual Healing Powers of Anonymity

Over the years, I’ve had several persons who wanted my counseling, whom I found ravished with shame that manifested in an unusual kind of grandiosity. I connected with them because I have it in a different way myself. Over the years, I came to recognize what I call “reverse grandiosity.”… Read More

Maureen Canning: Sex Addiction Can Kill

As part of its ongoing series, The Meadows, America’s premier center for the treatment of addiction and trauma, presents a video of Maureen Canning discussing sexual addiction in women. In the fourth video of her nine-part series, Ms. Canning, a leading expert in the field of sexual addiction, talks about… Read More

Why Do Powerful Men Risk Everything to Have Sexual Affairs?

From the outside, they seem to have it all: fame, power, respect. But they are also addicted to sexual acting-out and the intensity, risk, and adrenaline high that comes with it. For some, the secrets and the sense of getting away with bad behavior are the best part of the… Read More

Shame and Sex Addiction

The Meadows is pleased to present its ongoing series of videos on addiction and trauma; the series features some of the most influential figures in the mental health field, including Maureen Canning, John Bradshaw, and Dr. Jerry Boriskin, among others. In the second video of her series, Maureen Canning, MA,… Read More