They may look different from woman to woman, manifesting as sexual compulsion or porn addiction in one person and love addiction or sexual anorexia in another, but what all intimacy disorders have in common is how they negatively affect your ability to function in healthy relationships with others. At Willow House, women who are struggling with intimacy disorders can find relief from unhealthy patterns and learn how to build healthy, fulfilling relationships.

Emotional trauma adversely affects quality of life, and when left unresolved, individuals may try to cope through compulsive behaviors or a range of addictions. Research by our own Dr. Patrick Carnes and others has shown that childhood trauma and abuse can have significant impact on whether or not a person develops a sexual addiction. That’s why trauma-based treatment is the foundation of our program. The deep trauma work we do allows patients to work through core issues and achieve lasting change.

Those dealing with sex, love, or intimacy disorders have a high occurrence of co-occurring mental health or addiction issues as well. Everything from depression, anxiety, and bipolar to drug or alcohol abuse can co-mingle with a variety of sex addictions making both conditions worse. Fortunately, at Willow House we have experience working with dual diagnosis patients and we treat these disorders simultaneously in the same setting to achieve lasting healing and recovery.