Expired New Perspectives on Porn: its Uses and Misuses, its Problems and Pleasures [Online]

True or false: porn is addictive? Or, true or false: porn use is a normal, healthy expression of human sexuality?

Porn and sex addiction are confusing and polarizing topics that can easily trigger therapists’ negative countertransference. But the fact is that people in the United States visit more porn sites each month than they do Amazon, Netflix, and Twitter combined. Critics of porn will tell us that all this just goes to show we’re living in a “porn-addicted” society. Its advocates say we’re living in a “porn-phobic” one as well.

In this deep-dive module, we will cover a range of topics:

• Therapist self-location and counter-transference when dealing with porn.
• Delineating diagnostic criteria for when porn use is problematic vs. non-problematic.
• Understanding porn use as a symptom of co-morbidity with other mental health issues: as a primary coping mechanism; as a form of emotion regulation; as a form of attachment dysregulation; as a symptom of an erotic conflict.
• A review of “ethical porn” and incorporating it into a sex-positive treatment plan: as a way of bridging libido gaps; processing/healing trauma; gaining self-insight around core erotic themes; expanding erotic inter-subjectivity with a partner
• Working with a patient’s self-diagnosis of sex-addiction.
• Reviewing the history of sex addiction; taking a closer look at the neuroscience behind the addiction model.
• A CBT-based program for helping clients regulate their relationship to porn when it’s problematic, and other treatment approaches.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess for when porn is a problem in relationships and when it’s not, and avoid therapeutic potholes in the process.
• Explain how to handle clients’ self-diagnosis of “porn addict” and work with them to explore the context and assumptions surrounding their self-assessment.
• Describe the CBT-based program for helping clients regulate their relationship to porn when it’s problematic.
• Evaluate “ethical porn” and how it can be used to help patients with a range of common sexual problems.

Presenter:

Ian Kerner, PhD, LMFT, is a nationally-recognized sex therapist and New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including, She Comes First, which has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Ian is regularly quoted as an expert in various media, with recent features in The Atlantic, the Economist and NPR amongst others and he contributes regularly on the topic of sex for CNN. He teaches and supervises at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy in NYC. His new book will be published by Grand Central Publishing later this year.