But in contrast to the psychological model, many define an addiction as any behavior which a person cannot quit and which is causing detrimental effects in his or her personal, family and/or professional life, whether behaviors or substances are involved. Certainly, psychological therapy and drugs may help many sufferers. In fact, some professionals discourage the use of the term “sexual addiction.” They often advocate drug treatments. The most recent (2015) edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and Mental Disorders, DSM-V-TR, does not list sexual addiction as a distinct disorder.
There is also another useful book, He Restoreth My Soul, by LDS author Donald L. There is a group called Sexaholics Anonymous (SA), which has published a book, the “White Book,” similar to but shorter than the original text of Alcoholics Anonymous, which was written to help people find recovery from addictions through the Twelve Step process. Later, the two of them wrote a book together, entitled From Heartache to Healing, providing help for partners of sexual addicts. Subsequently Phil wrote the book reviewed here. Phil then married Colleen thus later editions of her book identify her by her current name, Colleen C. Unfortunately, only a few months later, Kathy died suddenly. Phil joined her and began to find help with his addiction. Soon after Kathy began attending Heart t’ Heart meetings and studying Colleen’s book. Colleen had written a book entitled He Did Deliver Me From Bondage, explaining this correlation and how it had helped her to access the atoning power of the Savior. However, later they heard about another program, Heart t’ Heart, organized by Colleen Bernhard, which showed that the principles in the Twelve Steps were abundantly supported by the teachings of the Book of Mormon. At one time, Kathy was attending a Twelve Step group called Overeaters Anonymous, which helped her with an overeating addiction, but Phil did not see the program as something that could help him with his sexual challenge. Phil tried to deal with his sexual addiction on his own for many years with no lasting success. I chose to review the book for SqaureTwo because it has the potential to help others with similar problems.
This book details the process he went through and the principles that helped him. With the support of his first wife Kathy, and second wife, Colleen, and most importantly, the healing power of the Savior Jesus Christ, he has been able to find peace and recovery from the addiction. The author of this book (who is also the reviewer’s brother) has struggled with pornography addiction since his youth. The problem of pornography and sexual addiction is a major challenge in our current society. Hyrum, Utah: Hearthaven Publishing (formerly Windhaven), 2004.