There are many tools that people in recovery from sex addiction
have found to be useful in aiding the process. When you are in the
beginning stages of your own recovery, you may want to try several
different tools to see what works well for you. One practice that many
addicts in recovery from sex addiction find helpful is keeping a journal
and general writing or blogging.
Writing can be very helpful when you find yourself being overwhelmed by strong feelings and obsessive thoughts, or when you are struggling with impulses toward your sex addiction behaviors. It may be a practice that you want to engage in regularly or just occasionally. There are numerous ways in which writing can support your recovery, but the following four topics have been found particularly helpful as starting places by other addicts who are living sober.
1. Powerlessness
As you have likely heard by now, coming to accept your powerlessness over your sex addiction is essential to your recovery. You can use writing as a tool to look at what it means to be powerless. If you are struggling with the desire to engage in the behaviors of your sex addiction you can write about what you are experiencing, what you are feeling and thinking. This exercise may help to break the hold that these impulses have over you.
Tapping into your powerlessness is the first step to recognizing your need for help from those around you and opens you up to accepting a Higher Power.
2. Fear
Fear not yet acknowledged is often an aspect of addictive thinking and sex addiction behaviors. The compulsions of sex addiction can mask the power the emotion of fear has. If you take the time to write down your fears, you will become more conscious of them and how they are influencing you. Some people find that by writing about their fears and exposing them in this way, the fears seem to disappear naturally.
Whether you work on overcoming your fears once they are acknowledged, or take the time to turn these feelings over to your Higher Power, writing them down allows you to take a stand against these emotions and end a cycle and victimization of fear.
3. Resentments
Like the emotion of fear, resentments are able to distort what you are thinking and feeling. Resentment threatens your serenity, separates you from your Higher Power, and leaves you more susceptible to giving in to the behaviors of your sex addiction. When you write about your resentments, put to paper what it is that you are resentful about. Look truthfully at the part you played in the situation and ask yourself whether you did something to set the situation in motion or something to keep it going.
It is a fact that people can do things that threaten or hurt you and that you don't have power over their behaviors. In this writing exercise, focus on the choices that you do have, and on your own behavior and reactions to other people and specific situations. Putting on paper the resentments that you find yourself stuck in will be the beginning of a process that will enable you to let go of those feelings and more fully focus on successful recovery from sex addiction.
4. Gratitude
The process of recovery from sex addiction is often not an easy one. It can be challenging and bumpy. In the beginning, especially, your urges to act out and engage in the behaviors of your sex addiction can feel overwhelming and unbeatable. During these difficult times you may lose sight of those things that are positive in your life, of the things that sustain you day to day. Making a list of the things that you are grateful for can keep you balanced.
There is always something to be grateful for, no matter how small it may seem. When life gets rough you can turn to your gratitude list for an instant reminder of those things that are good and worthwhile. For some people, saying out loud that they are grateful for a single day of sobriety helps in the commitment to stay sober. An attitude of gratitude will help you to live well as you journey from sex addiction to healthy sexuality.
Writing can be very helpful when you find yourself being overwhelmed by strong feelings and obsessive thoughts, or when you are struggling with impulses toward your sex addiction behaviors. It may be a practice that you want to engage in regularly or just occasionally. There are numerous ways in which writing can support your recovery, but the following four topics have been found particularly helpful as starting places by other addicts who are living sober.
1. Powerlessness
As you have likely heard by now, coming to accept your powerlessness over your sex addiction is essential to your recovery. You can use writing as a tool to look at what it means to be powerless. If you are struggling with the desire to engage in the behaviors of your sex addiction you can write about what you are experiencing, what you are feeling and thinking. This exercise may help to break the hold that these impulses have over you.
Tapping into your powerlessness is the first step to recognizing your need for help from those around you and opens you up to accepting a Higher Power.
2. Fear
Fear not yet acknowledged is often an aspect of addictive thinking and sex addiction behaviors. The compulsions of sex addiction can mask the power the emotion of fear has. If you take the time to write down your fears, you will become more conscious of them and how they are influencing you. Some people find that by writing about their fears and exposing them in this way, the fears seem to disappear naturally.
Whether you work on overcoming your fears once they are acknowledged, or take the time to turn these feelings over to your Higher Power, writing them down allows you to take a stand against these emotions and end a cycle and victimization of fear.
3. Resentments
Like the emotion of fear, resentments are able to distort what you are thinking and feeling. Resentment threatens your serenity, separates you from your Higher Power, and leaves you more susceptible to giving in to the behaviors of your sex addiction. When you write about your resentments, put to paper what it is that you are resentful about. Look truthfully at the part you played in the situation and ask yourself whether you did something to set the situation in motion or something to keep it going.
It is a fact that people can do things that threaten or hurt you and that you don't have power over their behaviors. In this writing exercise, focus on the choices that you do have, and on your own behavior and reactions to other people and specific situations. Putting on paper the resentments that you find yourself stuck in will be the beginning of a process that will enable you to let go of those feelings and more fully focus on successful recovery from sex addiction.
4. Gratitude
The process of recovery from sex addiction is often not an easy one. It can be challenging and bumpy. In the beginning, especially, your urges to act out and engage in the behaviors of your sex addiction can feel overwhelming and unbeatable. During these difficult times you may lose sight of those things that are positive in your life, of the things that sustain you day to day. Making a list of the things that you are grateful for can keep you balanced.
There is always something to be grateful for, no matter how small it may seem. When life gets rough you can turn to your gratitude list for an instant reminder of those things that are good and worthwhile. For some people, saying out loud that they are grateful for a single day of sobriety helps in the commitment to stay sober. An attitude of gratitude will help you to live well as you journey from sex addiction to healthy sexuality.
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