Saturday, September 18, 2010

Steven Hayes in the Huffington Post on Internet Porn Viewing

In the Huffington Post this morning, Dr. Steven Hayes, an eminent researcher and professor at the University of Nevada - Reno, posted a blog on the treatment of Internet pornography addiction. For those unfamiliar with his name, Dr. Hayes is the originator and driving force behind the development of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), one of the fastest growing mindfulness- and acceptance-based treatments.

Dr. Hayes writes about some work being done by a former student of his, Dr. Michael Twohig at Utah State University. (Utah has an extremely high rate of online Internet pornography consumption.) Dr. Twohig has pioneered the use of ACT in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and he has recently completed the first controlled study of the treatment of problematic viewing of Internet pornography--the first controlled study for the use of any treatment of problematic pornography viewing!

Dr. Hayes writes about how mindful observation and acceptance of urges to watch pornography help people to make choices more in accordance with their values. Trying to suppress these urges often backfires instead.

To read the blog post, click here. (UPDATE: To read a SM post on the study, click here.)

1 comment:

  1. There are so many arguments about this entire question, porn addict, sex addict or not, I wonder just what the issue is. On the one hand I hear unbelievable tales of people watching porn for hours on end then I hear about anybody getting into trouble for even glancing at it periodically. Is it porn or our sexuality?

    http://wqebelle.blogspot.com/2010/11/pornography-investigation.html

    We may be confusing the issue of porn with people who just have issues period. [sigh] Complicated.

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