The Value of Group Psychotherapy for Sexual Addicts in a Residential Setting

Abstract

Therapists treating sexual addicts have long been advocating the use of group psychotherapy as a treatment modality in both inpatient and outpatient settings (Carnes 1991; Goodman 1998; Turner 1990). In fact, group psychotherapy is the most commonly used treatment modality in many residential/inpatient treatment programs for sexual compulsivity. Although the use of group psychotherapy is prevalent in treatment for this population, there has been very little research that has examined the value of utilizing psychotherapy groups for sex addicts. This article attempts to examine what about the group therapy experience helps clients recover. It also discusses some of the benefits of group psychotherapy with sex addicts and some of the obstacles to overcome when facilitating these groups. Furthermore, it describes each of the therapeutic factors, first depicted by Irvin Yalom (1975, 1985; Yalom & Yalom, 1990), and provides clinical examples to illustrate how the therapeutic factors impact sex addicts in groups. Lastly, it describes the results of a survey in which 40 sex addicts who had completed group therapy rated which therapeutic factors they found the most valuable.