This book provides an understanding of how sexuality and addiction are intertwined, helping those who counsel substance abusers and individuals who have experienced negative sexual messages or experiences to improve their sexual health and enjoyment.
Millions of Americans suffer from addictions. Unfortunately, treatment for addiction has a high failure rate, in part because practitioners often overlook helping people learn how to cope with negative sexual experiences. Common sexual issues such as abuse, body image, incest, infertility, sexual dysfunction, and sexual orientation can make people more vulnerable to substance abuse and relapse.
This book presents a broad overview of sexual health issues that documents the links between sexuality and substance abuse, and describes how counselors can help individuals who have been impacted by negative sexual experiences can find a way out of the pain that leads them to addiction or back to substance abuse. Using the sexual health model as a framework for discussion, author Raven L. James, PhD, explains how sexual health and substance abuse are often connected, provides examples of real-life experiences, and identifies issues to consider in adopting healthier attitudes and sexual behaviors as well as effective methods for achieving them.
Each chapter provides focused content followed by an explanation of the subject's connection to substance abuse. Tips for counselors, sample lesson plans and ideas, tangible tools to use in sexual health groups, and related resources area also included. Whether the reader is personally afflicted, a helper, or a loved one, the information in Sexuality and Addiction: Making Connections, Enhancing Recovery will provide a new perspective on how to help clients improve their sexual self-esteem, find ways to improve sexual relationships with themselves and others, and most of all, to restore hope for sexual health in recovery.
Highlights
• Provides a more holistic approach to sexual health that covers a wider breadth of issues
• Written to be accessible to laypersons and general readers, including family members of those suffering from addiction
• Provides detail about sexuality from a less clinical perspective and a positive approach to sexual health that can benefit anyone
• Presents a helpful framework from which to base treatment and recovery
Raven L. James, PhD, is a sexologist, researcher, consultant, and assistant professor in addiction studies at Governors State University, University Park, IL. She has worked in the substance abuse field since 1994, providing training to human service and addiction professionals and her community-based experience included case management to addicted HIV+ individuals, sexual risk-reduction intervention development, LGBT issues, gender, domestic violence and more. She has conducted research with women on sexual health and addiction treatment interventions. Her published works include several peer-reviewed articles on her sexuality research and contributions to Praeger's multi-volume series Sexual Health.
