Not Living The Life That We Want to Live — Sex Addiction Recovery with Jason Swilling

Jason Swilling is the Program Manager at Seeking Integrity and works alongside addicts at the treatment center. He is on the ground working one-on-one with individuals seeking recovery from sex addiction and shares his experiences with Dr. Rob on today’s episode. How is a treatment center different than a support group? Does drug addiction differ from sex addiction? All these questions answered and more! 

 

TAKEAWAYS:

[2:35] Jason has worked with addicts in some form for over 20 years. 

[3:35] Is there a difference between patients who are recovering from sex addiction vs. drug addiction?

[4:55] Older patients take recovery much more seriously than a 25-year-old in recovery because they have established a stable home life and they are completely scared to lose everything. 

[7:15] What’s the difference between going through a treatment center vs. a support group? 

[11:55] Jason explains the differences between people who experience guilt vs. self-hatred for their actions.

[15:15] There’s something magical about treatment where everyone develops a very strong bond within a short amount of time. 

[16:35] The body will heal if you put it in the right circumstances. 

[18:30] In this therapeutic environment, the first thing people learn is how to be intimate in this safe environment.  

[21:05] When people go through treatment, their hearts begin to open up for the very first time. 

[23:20] How does spiritual work help with recovery? 

[27:15] By hearing each other’s stories, people going through recovery are able to grieve and really reflect on their own journeys and decisions that they’ve made. 

[31:35] Jason shares a story of a man feeling comfortable enough to reveal a trauma that he has held on to (and never told anyone) for 50 years. 

[33:25] The goal at Seeking Integrity is to develop healthy lives without shame or guilt.  

 

RESOURCES: 

The Porn Panic: Is Porn a ‘Public Health Crisis’?

Sex and Relationship Healing

@RobWeissMSW

Sex Addiction 101 

Seeking Integrity

Cruise Control: Understanding Sex Addiction in Gay Men 

Prodependence: Moving Beyond Codependency

 

QUOTES:

• “The opposite of addiction is connection.”
• “The person who is sharing realizes they’re not alone whereas when we’re isolated in our addiction we do feel like we’re alone.”
• “Our body seeks to heal. The body will heal if you put it in the right circumstances.”
• “As an addict, in our addiction, we have this lack of intimacy, this inability to be intimate with others. We have to hide.”