Sex addicts live with a compulsion they just can't shake?an inner voice that compels them to seek pornography, pursue sexual encounters with strangers, and do everything they can to gratify the sexual urges that won't go away. But people with sex addictions can learn to enjoy lives of productivity and purpose and develop true intimate connections with others. Breaking the Cycle helps readers learn to identify the triggers and compulsive thoughts that keep them trapped in the cycle of addiction and offers skills for countering those thoughts instead of simply caving to them. By drawing on their deepest values and ideals, readers find the strength to separate their true selves from their obsessive thoughts. Gradually, using exposure techniques, readers develop resistance to their former triggers and make sex addict behavior, and then the addictive thoughts themselves, a thing of the past.
About the Author :
George N. Collins, MA, is founder and director of Compulsion Solutions, an outpatient counseling service in San Francisco Bay. A former sex addict himself, Collins is a professional member of the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health and is recognized as an expert on sexually compulsive behavior. Andrew Adleman, MA, is a writer and book editor in the greater Los Angeles area. He has formerly worked in the movie industry and as a psychotherapist.
Review :
"Breaking the Cycle by George Collins is a 911 call that can save your life and those you love from sex addiction, porn obsession, and shame. Honest, stark, hard-hitting and yet hopeful, Collins lays out the steps required to wrestle self-control back from your sexually compulsive impulses. In your darkest time, Breaking the Cycle brings the light you are looking for!"
--Don Elium, MFT, adjunct faculty at John F. Kennedy University and author of Raising a Son
"Collins' take on the mental obsession leading to physical addiction and subsequent negative consequence is pure poetry for the troubled romantic soul. Even if you are NOT an addict, you will find this book a useful GPS to navigate new neighborhoods of abnormal thinking in people you know or will encounter someday. On a personal note, I am honored to be mentioned and I am grateful he didn't abbreviate First Thought Wrong even one time. Thank you, George, for taking First Thought Wrong from sexual to helpful, hopeful and safe."
--Mark Lundholm, internationally recognized stand-up comedian and creator of The Recovery Board Game and the DVD series Humor in Treatment
"This book offers a raw look into the world of sex addicts. George Collins' courageous self-revelation of his own sex addiction has helped hundreds of men and women to find what is essential for rehabilitation inside themselves. His 'I'll pay you to just be honest' conversation with the sex worker and client was itself worth the cost of the book!"
--Don L. Mathews, MFT, director of the Impulse Treatment Center
"This is gripping stuff, and a real page-turner of a book. The real-life stories have the ring of truth, and the dialogue is unmistakably real. The use of trenchant, memorable lines, like, 'you can't get enough of what won't satisfy you, ' really get the message across."
-- Bob, sex addict in recovery in California
"Prior to reading this book, I had been acting out my sexually compulsive behaviors for forty years. Each chapter is filled with specific experiences and emotions that I have struggled with in the past. As a result of the techniques described in this book, my addiction has faded away."
--Ralph, sex addict in recovery in Rhode Island
