What is a sex addict? One man's journey towards self-definition through twelve-step and psychodynamic treatment

This case study describes a psychoanalytically oriented therapy with Drew, a patient who entered the therapy self-identifying as a "sex-addict" and struggling with aspects of the twelve-step paradigm espoused in the Sex Addicts Anonymous group he attended for the previous five years. I explore what effects and meanings the sex addict label had for Drew. Using our relationship as a gauge, I attend to the fluctuating emotions and meanings Drew attached to his intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. Throughout, I explore the challenges and frustrations posed by a relational therapeutic stance, whereby I empathized with Drew in a "no-blame paradigm" (Cohn, 2014, p. 79), which, at times, became destabilized by Drew's inclination to self-pathologize his sexual activities and swallow whole the twelve-step "incurable disease" model of sexual addiction.DSWIncludes bibliographical reference