This is an overview of the LifeSTAR Pornography & Sexual Addiction Treatment Program
LifeSTAR is a three-phase treatment program designed to help individuals who struggle with pornography addictions and sexually compulsive behaviors.
- This program is unique in that spouses are included in every phase of treatment, allowing the spouse to receive support and treatment as well.
- LifeSTAR programs are broken down into three consecutive phases of recovery and healing, enabling thorough and lasting change.
- Call John Hess MS, LPC at 303-518-6663 to sign up for the next available Phase I: Getting Started Workshop.
Phase I: The Getting Started Workshop
The Getting Started Workshop is a six-week educational course for individuals and their spouses who are struggling with or who have been impacted by sexually addictive or compulsive sexual behavior.
This well-designed program provides participants with an understanding of addictive cycles and the underlying issues that fuel them. During Phase I, both addicts and spouses learn how to begin the journey toward peace, hope, and healing.
The primary focus of the Getting Started Workshop is to educate. We have found that when clients are well informed about the underlying issues that influence unhealthy behaviors, they become empowered to take a more proactive approach to recovery and life. The client workbooks in Phase I are an important tool in reaching these educational goals.
The Getting Started Workshop is intended for those starting out in recovery, and is also recommended for those who have been attending 12-step support groups or for those receiving individual counseling.
We strongly recommend married couples come together so they can begin the process of education together; however, the workshop is also for singe adults and for those clients whose partners are not willing to attend.
Phase II: The Recovery Group
The Recovery Group is intended to help clients develop solid sobriety and employ successful strategies that will help them live healthier, more productive lives.
In Phase II, addicts and their spouses attend separate recovery groups for men and women. The groups consist of five to seven individuals.
The client workbooks in Phase II facilitate a deeper look at denial, the addiction cycle, fantasies, objectification, relapse prevention, and healthy living. Partners in Phase II take a deeper look at how their partner’s addiction affects their thinking and behavior, learn how to establish healthy boundaries with their partner, and learn effective coping skills.
Participants should stay in Phase II until they have established a solid sobriety, are implementing an effective treatment plan-including a network of support, and have a detailed understanding of their addictive patterns.
Phase III: The Advanced Group
The Advanced Group is a long-term commitment to group therapy and is geared toward helping participants maintain their new-found healthy lifestyle. Phase III participants have graduated from Phase II and continue to work in their separate small groups. Clients and partners continue to be in separate groups in this phase.
Phase III addresses the issues that supported the addiction in the first place, such as faulty core beliefs, trauma, and abuse. Once the addiction has been stopped and the underlying issues have been addressed, healthy lifestyle changes are reinforced in order to keep the addiction from reappearing.
For couples in the program, this is the time to practice their new lifestyle and new ways of relating to each other. In Phase III, couples put into practice all of the identity and boundary training they have received throughout the first two phases.
