Reflections On the History of the Sex Addiction Field: A Festschrift

Out-of-control sexual behavior, sexual compulsivity, or sexual addiction may be described by different names but all share one fundamental and common element: sex used as an impulsive, compulsive, and/or maladaptive sexual response that results in adverse consequences. These can include public shaming of prominent figures, divorce, career loss, arrest and imprisonment, and sexually transmitted diseases. Unfortunately, some people still believe that this behavior isn’t a psychological problem but rather a moral failure.

Editors Jennifer P. Schneider, MD, PhD; Debra L. Kaplan, MA, LPC; and Mark Laaser PhD present a history of this new field with the help of fifteen other pioneering contributors, who reveal not only their personal motivations for entering the field but the way they have shifted social perspectives on sexual promiscuity and addiction.

Empathy is present in every chapter of the anthology, which reads like conversations with good friends. These contributors understand the devastating effect addiction can have on a life and on a family. This collection offers a personal and historical exploration of the sex addiction and sexual health fields by the clinicians who fought to advance the areas of sexual expression, sex addiction research, addiction recovery and treatment.