The “Sex/Porn Addiction” Model, developed in the 1980’s, has promoted therapy and treatment services that are based in arbitrary, moralistic and sex-negative messaging and that do not stand up to academic, evidence-based scrutiny. Proponents claim that individuals become addicted to sexual pleasure or to watching pornography in the same way someone may become chemically dependent to substances. This unfounded claim has spread like wildfire, especially in religiously conservative communities such as ours. Instead of approaching sexual variety as a healthy part of the human experience, this model leverages sexual shame and treats individuals with any unconventional sexual behavior as pathological. This has severe implications in regards to treatment modalities, self-identity, relational processes and an individual’s long-term relationship with their sexuality.

Natasha Helfer Parker, Kristin Bennion