It depends on how you define the word “addiction.” Obsessive use of pornography can be as distressing to one’s life – and relationships – as drugs or alcohol. Some say it is worse because few of us wish to abstain entirely from sexual expression. This private activity essentially has no victims, and no lives are at risk. Many people and couples enjoy moderate use of porn. They use porn for enhancing their sex lives and educating one another. Yet, for some, it escalates to the point of addiction. Meaning they feel they are out of control or powerless to stop. They have an increasing need for a larger amount to get their “fix,” which disrupts their daily lives. Scores of people have felt betrayed. Relationships have been ruined, and jobs have been lost because of porn addiction.
You are not alone! The adult industry is a multi-billion dollar one. The number of websites on the Internet that are sexual in nature is staggering. Google the word “sex,” and you will see a virtual tsunami of porn sites. One study found that porn is a problem in the home for 47% of families. A divorce lawyers’ association found the following statistics. About 68% of divorces involve one partner meeting a new sex partner on the Internet. And 56% involve a partner who obsessively uses porn.
(For more information, see this article published by the American Psychological Association https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/04/pornography).
Further, a recent study showed that 42% of tweens and teens (ages 10 to 17) had seen Internet porn in the last year. Some of this is accidental due to XXX-rated spam or mass email from friends or bullies. But it can “hook” one, nonetheless. Intervention is crucial so that your kid has a healthy attitude about sex. Avoiding it can lead to porn addiction or other intimacy issues.
Hypnotherapy for Porn Addiction
It seems natural that hypnosis successfully treats porn addiction. This is because pornography (and sex in general) in and of itself can be very hypnotic. The constant reinforcement by the Smartphone, computer, videos, music, and the ubiquitousness of porn can lull one into this addiction at little or no financial cost. Yet the cost to the addict’s life can be enormous. Therapeutic hypnosis (“hypnotherapy”) for porn addiction focuses on these five major issues:
- Shame & Humiliation. When one is caught, the embarrassment and loss of self-respect can be devastating. Whether caught by a boss, a spouse, or a child, it affects the individual, the workplace, and the family unit.
- Loss of intimacy in relationships. Hypnosis works on restoring intimacy (emotional connections) vs. sex. Sex portrayed in pornography is vastly different than that in a healthy relationship. What one can really get addicted to is the fantasy vs. reality of a flesh and blood human being.
- Over-sexualization of people and/or objects. Many porn addicts get aroused by people and a host of objects through conditioning. These can include computers, TVs, and Smartphones. Like Pavlov’s dog, for example, just the sound of a computer booting up sends an instant message to the genitals that relief is on the way. Through reinforcement, they have paired these objects with immediate sexual gratification. Behavioral modification, or reconditioning, with porn hypnosis, can change the stimulus-response cycle. You can retrain Pavlov’s dog.
- Restoring balance, productivity, and time management. Many people with porn addiction invest up to 10 hours per day watching porn, visiting porn chat rooms, etc. They need more and more (and sometimes more and more extreme graphic porn) to feed their addiction. Their consumption levels increase, which is a hallmark trait of any addiction. Some have even experienced genital rawness and/or bleeding due to excessive usage. Some feel they absolutely “cannot turn it off and get back to my life.” Hypnosis can change that limiting belief to freedom from porn.
- Overcoming unrealistic expectations about sex. Excessive exposure to “perfect” bodies that seemingly promise “sex anytime, anywhere” – with no possible risk of rejection – sets one up for failure in the real world. Anything less than “the porn star look” can become boring to the porn addicted. In the moment, the porn addict forgets that porn stars are airbrushed. That they are computer-rendered, and even that they are human beings. They are constantly on a relentless chase for the mirage of the perfect vagina or perfect penis.
Porn Addiction Hypnosis
Recovery from this addiction is possible. Hypnotherapy, or clinical hypnosis, works to “undo” the negative underlying thoughts and beliefs that drive the unwanted behavior. Again, freedom from this addiction is possible. Hypnosis (albeit negative suggestions) essentially got you into this cycle; it can get you out of it. It starts with asking for help. Learn more about porn addiction hypnosis.
Don’t hesitate to contact me for more information about how porn addiction hypnosis can help you. I offer a free 30-minute phone consultation to answer your questions. See if I’m the best porn addiction hypnotherapist for you, providing porn hypnosis from my Los Angeles office.
Do you have questions or concerns about hypnosis for porn addiction? See common myths and learn the reality of hypnosis and hypnotherapy.
(Originally posted on May 3, 2013, updated with additional information on April 26, 2024.)