Impulse Control Disorders Therapy and Treatment (anger, sex, gambling, etc.)
Impulses or habits that can get the best of us (if so, they may become an addiction):
Cutting
Anger, irritability, or rage
Drinking
Gambling addiction
Love (as in “falling in love” without developing a secure relationship)
Addiction
Porn addiction
Shopping / spending out of control
Sex compulsions, obsessions, risk-taking sex behaviors and sexual addiction
Even using TV or computer for hours
Any strong habit/compulsion/addiction can be treated as an Urge to Do or an Urge to Avoid using the the EMDR Popky Urge-Reduction Protocol.By creating a vision for your future free from the impulse problem and uncovering any blocking beliefs about change, the foundation is laid for healing from it.
Group therapy with accountability groups is most helpful for clients in the process of recovering from sexually-inappropriate behaviors, such as sex and/or love addiction, pornography addiction, or sexually-deviant behaviors that have caused problems with the law. Twelve Step groups are also highly recommended.
It is helpful to identify all the triggers to the impulse. For some clients, it is simply a strong emotion that lies beneath the anger or the addiction, such as loneliness, hurt, or fear. They have learned to avoid certain emotions that make them feel vulnerable or unsafe.
Thus, part of the therapy is to learn to tolerate those emotions in order to discover that one can, in fact, bear them and resolve them more directly and with greater chance of success. As the habits are weakened, sometimes distress from past traumas can arise. Thus working with a trauma therapist is a good first choice as they understand how trauma contributes to subsequent “out of control” behaviors. “Clearing” these traumas is important. With EMDR the clearing is effective and more rapid than talk therapy. Many clients report feelings of freedom as this process nears completion.
The last stage of therapy is to anticipate all the times in the future one could be “triggered” or “tempted” to dive back into the Urge and then the behavior. Once those are scenarios are processed, and the urge desensitized, the client is able to realize the vision they created at the beginning of treatment.
Occasionally, new or unanticipated triggers, or a deluge of stresses hitting all at once, bring about susceptibility to act out the old impulse. It is good to recognize this possibility and have a plan to return to treatment briefly to resolve these issues and shore up the healing gains that have been made. In no way does this occurrence mean a failure. Instead, it means a success in recognizing the real need for greater health and getting that need promptly addressed. The old adage is very true in this case, “A stitch in time saves nine.”
(Also see Anger Management Therapy and Treatment)
