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Sex Addiction 101: A Basic Guide to Healing from Sex, Porn, and Love Addiction
The number of affordable, easy links to pleasurable sexual online content is on the rise. Activity increases with the accessibility of technology. So, too, has sex addiction. People struggling with sex, porn, and love addiction typically have little understanding of this incredibly complicated disease. Sex Addiction 101 covers everything from what sexual addiction is and how it can best be treated, to how it affects various subgroups of the population such as women, gays, and teenagers. The book also provides sex addicts with strategies to protect themselves from the online sexual onslaught. Sex Addiction 101 is intended to enlighten the clinical population as well as actual sex addicts and their loved ones. Along with his mentor Patrick Carnes, Weiss has become the face of and driving force behind understanding and treating sex addiction; this book should be a core title in every addiction collection.
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 19, 2013
139 people are currently reading
228 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 20, 2016
Same as any other addiction, listed alongside such classics as "drugs" and "alcohol", but also with exciting newcomers like "video games" and, yes, "shopping". It's the dopamine reward circuit and resultant feedback loop; you can get addicted to anything, some things are just more pervasive than others.
The book had some interesting statistics from admittedly small studies, then the standard-issue CBT resolution package -- "Make a list of reasons not to watch porn for six hours!" and "Think about your mom before snorting coke off a stripper's ass!" -- then wrapped up with some truly woeful advice for the reconstruction of trust in your relationship.
"Did your spouse look at The Nudity on an internet? Is he super sorry? The only way you will ever trust him again is if you install NannyWare in his computer and check it every day. Also, GPS tracking software in his phone, so you know if he ever goes to the tiddy bar, or anywhere that isn't work and the grocery store, until he dies. The only way your marriage will flourish once again is by recreating 1984 in your personal life."
The book had some interesting statistics from admittedly small studies, then the standard-issue CBT resolution package -- "Make a list of reasons not to watch porn for six hours!" and "Think about your mom before snorting coke off a stripper's ass!" -- then wrapped up with some truly woeful advice for the reconstruction of trust in your relationship.
"Did your spouse look at The Nudity on an internet? Is he super sorry? The only way you will ever trust him again is if you install NannyWare in his computer and check it every day. Also, GPS tracking software in his phone, so you know if he ever goes to the tiddy bar, or anywhere that isn't work and the grocery store, until he dies. The only way your marriage will flourish once again is by recreating 1984 in your personal life."
February 11, 2017
Sex addiction is not just a myth and it's not fun. The author has a clear writing style that is easy to read. From this book I learned that addiction it's complicated and there is no easy answer, but recovery is possible. I highly recommend this book for sex addicts and their families, and for other people who are interested in learning about this topic.
Thank you Netgalley for this book.
Thank you Netgalley for this book.
February 28, 2023
Understand what triggers you, change your actions in those triggers. Appreciate what matters to you by writing them down. There is freedom in commitment and a source of motivation.
January 28, 2025
Thank God, I am not a sex addict and I do not watch pornographic films, but this book has helped me a lot on a personal level and on the level of understanding the Canadian society in which I live, which is part of Western society, and also to take care of my children and raise them.
The book is very good and contains valuable information and clarity that makes a person confront himself and learn more about the role of sex in his life and thoughts and understand the current crisis in Western society.
I think the book is important even if you are not suffering from this disease.
One of the book's flaws is that the author tried to speak in a clear secular language so that he never praises religion or sheds light on the importance of religion in treating this problem. Although the author advised resorting to places of worship and seeking help from religion or religious institutions, he clearly avoided the fact that religion strongly protects against falling into adultery. The truth is that if I were not a committed Muslim, I would have fallen into this matter easily. Adultery was very easy for me in my life in Canada, but I never practiced it because I followed the teachings of my religion, thank God.
The writer also deals with the problem in a way that makes the sex addict the only one responsible and largely ignores the partner. The man may want to continue with his wife but she is sick or suffers from some problem so he goes to another woman for a few nights. Here the problem is definitely with the man but it will not be treated except by treating the partner or by the man having two wives which is completely rejected in the West. This brings us to the last point which is that in many cases the wife becomes impotent or cannot satisfy her husband's desires and has no problem with another wife but the book does not consider that this wife is real but rather considers that the man is sick because he has sex outside of marriage. As if he were not married it would be normal. If you have sex every month with a girl then you are not sick according to the man's definition but if you do it while you are married then you have become sick and this is because he does not want to open the door to polygamy which the West opposes and does not accept. But overall, the book contains situations and stories that are mostly real and not all of them are about married people, but rather about people whose lives were ruined by sex in one way or another. I do not want my criticism to be understood as meaning that polygamy is a solution to this problem. Quite the opposite, a person must control his desires and not be led by them. This is regardless of whether he is married or not, or whether his wife is enough for him or not. The absence of the wife does not justify committing adultery or multiple relationships, but I just wanted to say that the writer's interest in male addicts in a way that ignores the role of the partner in causing the problem or that he ignores one of the solutions that may be useful in some problems because it opposes Western culture. He also ignores criticism of Western life and extreme pornography in advertisements and revealing clothing in the street. He states that there is no escape from being exposed to scenes that provoke your sexual desire, whether in women's clothing in the street, advertisements, or on the pages of magazines. He did not object or accuse this, even if this is far from the goal of the book. However, I thought that he should mention, even in a few lines, that this culture that calls for nudity, wearing revealing clothing, and spreading revealing sexual scenes negatively affects society.
The book is very good and contains valuable information and clarity that makes a person confront himself and learn more about the role of sex in his life and thoughts and understand the current crisis in Western society.
I think the book is important even if you are not suffering from this disease.
One of the book's flaws is that the author tried to speak in a clear secular language so that he never praises religion or sheds light on the importance of religion in treating this problem. Although the author advised resorting to places of worship and seeking help from religion or religious institutions, he clearly avoided the fact that religion strongly protects against falling into adultery. The truth is that if I were not a committed Muslim, I would have fallen into this matter easily. Adultery was very easy for me in my life in Canada, but I never practiced it because I followed the teachings of my religion, thank God.
The writer also deals with the problem in a way that makes the sex addict the only one responsible and largely ignores the partner. The man may want to continue with his wife but she is sick or suffers from some problem so he goes to another woman for a few nights. Here the problem is definitely with the man but it will not be treated except by treating the partner or by the man having two wives which is completely rejected in the West. This brings us to the last point which is that in many cases the wife becomes impotent or cannot satisfy her husband's desires and has no problem with another wife but the book does not consider that this wife is real but rather considers that the man is sick because he has sex outside of marriage. As if he were not married it would be normal. If you have sex every month with a girl then you are not sick according to the man's definition but if you do it while you are married then you have become sick and this is because he does not want to open the door to polygamy which the West opposes and does not accept. But overall, the book contains situations and stories that are mostly real and not all of them are about married people, but rather about people whose lives were ruined by sex in one way or another. I do not want my criticism to be understood as meaning that polygamy is a solution to this problem. Quite the opposite, a person must control his desires and not be led by them. This is regardless of whether he is married or not, or whether his wife is enough for him or not. The absence of the wife does not justify committing adultery or multiple relationships, but I just wanted to say that the writer's interest in male addicts in a way that ignores the role of the partner in causing the problem or that he ignores one of the solutions that may be useful in some problems because it opposes Western culture. He also ignores criticism of Western life and extreme pornography in advertisements and revealing clothing in the street. He states that there is no escape from being exposed to scenes that provoke your sexual desire, whether in women's clothing in the street, advertisements, or on the pages of magazines. He did not object or accuse this, even if this is far from the goal of the book. However, I thought that he should mention, even in a few lines, that this culture that calls for nudity, wearing revealing clothing, and spreading revealing sexual scenes negatively affects society.
July 20, 2021
Robert Weiss, a leading practitioner in the field of sex addiction, wrote a comprehensive (but easy-to-read) guide to the broad umbrella disorder of sex addiction. It contains valuable information for the sex addicts, those close to sex addicts, practitioners and general readers.
I'm the kind of person who wants to read everything in a book in order, but this book works very well for those who are in crisis mode or simply don't have time to read a whole book. For those cases, it's very easy to identify a chapter that applies to your situation and flip to it to start reading. That's what I'd recommend for those with a specific situation they want to address (e.g., those who want to skip to practical steps towards healing or what signs to look for preceding a relapse).
Weiss also does a great job of highlighting specific issues in the field, like sex addiction in women, love and relationship addiction, sexual orientation, and cooccurring disorders. He also has a bunch of incredible resources compiled in the back of the book!
As an editor, I was bothered by the numerous typos in the text. That knocked a star off for me just because it affected how I perceived the professionalism and legitimacy of the book. But I can look past that because it didn't prevent me from learning a great deal about sex addiction.
I'm the kind of person who wants to read everything in a book in order, but this book works very well for those who are in crisis mode or simply don't have time to read a whole book. For those cases, it's very easy to identify a chapter that applies to your situation and flip to it to start reading. That's what I'd recommend for those with a specific situation they want to address (e.g., those who want to skip to practical steps towards healing or what signs to look for preceding a relapse).
Weiss also does a great job of highlighting specific issues in the field, like sex addiction in women, love and relationship addiction, sexual orientation, and cooccurring disorders. He also has a bunch of incredible resources compiled in the back of the book!
As an editor, I was bothered by the numerous typos in the text. That knocked a star off for me just because it affected how I perceived the professionalism and legitimacy of the book. But I can look past that because it didn't prevent me from learning a great deal about sex addiction.
October 24, 2020
i have no idea about the term of love addiction and addiction of sex but i knew about porn that is not good at all if you wanna have a life in the real world and porn would destroy it.
i really got a lot of info from this book specially how to deal whit addiction in all forms and how to help the people who have addiction in one of those who got mention in the book beside that how to be supportive to them without being a burden on their shoulder
i recommend the book for y'll .
i really got a lot of info from this book specially how to deal whit addiction in all forms and how to help the people who have addiction in one of those who got mention in the book beside that how to be supportive to them without being a burden on their shoulder
i recommend the book for y'll .
March 18, 2019
This book will be really useful for working with clients. Robert Weiss clearly cares about those whose lives have been affected by sexual addiction. What I especially like is his clarity, his no-nonsense approach that is challenging and concerned. He is thorough and gives practical advice for those who are addicted and their partners.
February 26, 2018
Defines the general term of addiction, common traits of sex addicts, and the process that an addict can take to heal from this addiction in the long term. Reflect back if you are stuck again.
Surprisingly a pretty easy read for me. Took less than a week to finish.
Surprisingly a pretty easy read for me. Took less than a week to finish.
June 19, 2019
Any book on addiction that needs to define "addiction" to support its view, and define it in a way where all forms of behaviour or activities are addictive, is onerous.
Studies were lame, 'fictitious' case examples used as proof that sex addiction exists. If human behaviours that rely on brain reward are bad, then what is human - in an age where robotic forms of sexual activity are becoming the norm? The techniques described to "re-build" oneself are woeful, and don't even begin to support the argument whether there is actually 'sex addiction.'
This book could have been written by simply reading 2 or 3 of the plethora of self-help books available - an industry entirely focused on profit-motive like any other business.
It entirely ignores the bodies physiological changes during sex, and omits the growing research into brain activity that has led people to understand the un-tapped power that sex can give across all forms and avenues of human lives.
It is joked many times, if arriving at St Peter's gates, do you think people would have said they wished they had less sex? The truth is, if humans understood it more, we'd be better off ten-fold.
Studies were lame, 'fictitious' case examples used as proof that sex addiction exists. If human behaviours that rely on brain reward are bad, then what is human - in an age where robotic forms of sexual activity are becoming the norm? The techniques described to "re-build" oneself are woeful, and don't even begin to support the argument whether there is actually 'sex addiction.'
This book could have been written by simply reading 2 or 3 of the plethora of self-help books available - an industry entirely focused on profit-motive like any other business.
It entirely ignores the bodies physiological changes during sex, and omits the growing research into brain activity that has led people to understand the un-tapped power that sex can give across all forms and avenues of human lives.
It is joked many times, if arriving at St Peter's gates, do you think people would have said they wished they had less sex? The truth is, if humans understood it more, we'd be better off ten-fold.
October 21, 2021
This book serves as an entry level read for anyone looking to deepen their knowledge of Sexual Addiction, understand their SEXUAL disorder more, or dip their toes in the waters of treating SA.
A recommended read for anything new to the realm of SA.
A recommended read for anything new to the realm of SA.
July 9, 2020
Very good, quick overview. Easy read. Not a ton of depth, but enough to get it.
August 12, 2022
Dr. Weiss writes an amazing book about sexually related struggles and addictions. As a recovering porn user, it was valuable.
July 24, 2023
Excellent read for anyone studying sex or poem addiction, suffering from it or supporting a loved one who has it.
June 26, 2025
Didn’t cure me but can appreciate the literature. Needa a climax (if you’d pardon the pun).
December 6, 2025
Well, I already knew a lot about it, but reading this book gave me a new hope. a must read for everyone struggling with anything.
December 18, 2016
The book is an excellent source for anyone looking for information and a action plan for sexual addiction. The book went into detail about addictions in general, how the process is similar and how addictions can co-exist and replace each other I especially liked the chapter about the spouses of sex addicts. The damage done to the spouse can be similar to PTSD and may need treatment rather they decide to stay with the sex addict or not. I received a copy from HCI Books & NetGalley for my honest review.
June 30, 2016
A dreary addiction, this book offers hope. The movie 'Shame' directed by Steve McQueen is also very good for showing the progressing of the disease.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews