A New Classification Model for Sex Addiction

Abstract

In this article I offer a classification model for sex addiction that takes into consideration the context of increasing sexual liberation and access to sexual stimuli. Moving beyond the traditional model of attachment, the Opportunity, Attachment, and Trauma (OAT) model provides therapists with a tool to consider treatment approaches that might more accurately reflect a client's history and personal experience and reduces the risk of seeking pathology where none exists. The OAT model can also help partners to better understand addiction and provide therapists with alternative ways of considering codependency.