Meditation Awareness Training for the Treatment of Sex Addiction: A Case Study

Abstract

BackgroundSex addiction is a disorder that can have serious adverse functional consequences. Treatment effectiveness research for sex addiction is currently underdeveloped, and interventions are generally based on the guidelines for treating other behavioral (as well as chemical) addictions. Consequently, there is a need to clinically evaluate tailored treatments that target the specific symptoms of sex addiction. It has been proposed that second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) may be an appropriate treatment for sex addiction because in addition to helping individuals increase perceptual distance from craving for desired objects and experiences, some SG-MBIs specifically contain meditations intended to undermine attachment to sex and/or the human body. The current study conducts the first clinical investigation into the utility of mindfulness for treating sex addiction.Case presentationAn in-depth clinical case study was conducted involving an adult male suffering from sex addiction that underwent treatment utilizing an SG-MBI known as Meditation Awareness Training (MAT). Following completion of MAT, the participant demonstrated clinically significant improvements in addictive sexual behavior, as well as reductions in depression and psychological distress. The MAT intervention also led to improvements in sleep quality, job satisfaction, and non-attachment to self and experiences. Salutary outcomes were maintained at 6-month follow-up.Discussion and conclusionThe current study extends the literature exploring the applications of mindfulness for treating behavioral addiction, and findings indicate that further clinical investigation into the role of mindfulness for treating sex addiction is warranted.

Hypersexuality, Gender, and Sexual Orientation: A Large-Scale Psychometric Survey Study

“…According to the findings of the present study, for LGBTQ individuals, more emphasis should be put on the promotion of other, more adaptive coping strategies, especially in the case of LGBTQ women, who had relatively higher scores on the coping dimension than on the other ones. In previous studies (Hook et al, 2015;Reid, Bramen, Anderson, & Cohen, 2014;Reid, Temko, Moghaddam, & Fong, 2014), individuals with HB reported lower levels of mindfulness, selfcompassion, and self-forgiveness indicating that interventions focusing on mindfulness, selfcompassion and self-forgiveness related coping strategies could contribute to more adaptive responses to stressful life events and, therefore, could lead to the reduction of HB (Grubbs et al, 2017;Van Gordon et al, 2016).…”

“…In the literature, cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, experiential therapy, motivational interviewing, art therapy, mindfulness, relational therapy, peer support groups, or pharmacotherapy have been described as effective approaches to reduce the level of hypersexual disorder and its consequences (e.g., Franqué, Klein, & Briken, 2015;Grubbs et al, 2017;Stewart & Federoff, 2014;Van Gordon, Shonin & Griffiths, 2016). However, to the present authors' best knowledge, no previous research examined whether these psychotherapeutic techniques are similarly effective in different groups of individuals with hypersexual disorder.…”

Dispositional Mindfulness, Shame, and Compulsive Sexual Behaviors Among Men in Residential Treatment for Substance Use Disorders

“…It should be noted that no studies have examined the efficacy of a mindfulness-based intervention for CSB. Given the results of the current and prior research (Van Gordon et al, 2016; Reid et al, 2014; Shorey et al, 2016), and the supported efficacy for mindfulness-based interventions for SUDs (Chiesa & Serretti, 2014), future research should investigate the extent to which mindfulness-based interventions for SUDs demonstrate efficacy in reducing CSB and shame among substance-dependent populations.…”

“…Similarly, Reid, Bramen, Anderson, and Cohen (2014) found an inverse relationship between men’s dispositional mindfulness and CSB. Using a single-subject design, van Gordon, Shonin, and Griffiths (2016) found that CSB and CSB-related negative self-thoughts decreased following a mindfulness-based meditation training that incorporated acceptance, awareness, and self-compassion. Furthermore, because research supported the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in treating SUDs (Chiesa & Serretti, 2014), it follows that such interventions may be applied to the treatment of CSB among men with SUDs in an effort to reduce both substance use and shame.…”

Meditation awareness training for the treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome: A randomized controlled trial

“…Consistent with this finding, qualitative studies of SG‐MBIs have demonstrated that participants of both healthy and clinical status attribute improvements in health outcomes to increased spiritual awareness. Although a study investigating the effectiveness of an SG‐MBI for treating FMS has not been conducted to date, SG‐MBIs have demonstrable applications for treating many of the individual symptoms of FMS including psychological distress (Van Gordon, Shonin, Sumich, Sundin, & Griffiths, ), self‐preoccupation and maladaptive ego‐constructs (Shonin & Van Gordon, ; Shonin, Van Gordon, & Griffiths, ), and sleep disturbance (Van Gordon, Shonin, & Griffiths, ). Using these findings as a basis, the purpose of the present RCT was to address the need for a rigorous empirical assessment of the effectiveness of an SG‐MBI for treating FMS.…”