Help for pornography addiction

Pornography addiction is more common than many people think. As with other addictions, hypnotherapy can be very effective and can help reduce your feelings of dependency. You are not alone and hypnotherapists receive increasing enquiries for help. Addictions share common characteristics, however, a major point of difference between pornography addiction and other addictions, such as alcohol or smoking, is that to have a drink occasionally or a cigarette on an evening out does not involve the breaking of social taboos or morals rooted in religious or family beliefs. As such it is often embarrassing to admit and there are accompanying feelings of shame or guilt. Indeed using pornography is also not easy to talk about especially if you are in a relationship. How might your partner or spouse react? Will they reject you or see it as a betrayal? Will they feel that they are not good enough since you need to look elsewhere to feel a sense of satisfaction? What pornography addiction has in common with other addictions is the feeling of being taken over or overwhelmed by it and also the negative consequences of maintaining the habit. You are not alone and help is at hand.

Hypnotherapy works by looking at your subconscious drives and thought patterns. Have you ever felt conflicted about your behaviour? This conflict is operating below the surface and that is why it is so tough to deal with. A part of you says yes and another part of you says no. However, hypnotherapy will help you by going below the surface and helping you change perspective on a deeper level, the level of the subconscious. This may range from looking at your motivations and the reasons why you feel addicted, to hypnotherapy helping you think more clearly about what you need to do to be free of the addiction and gain confidence and optimism to do well.

To admit to pornography addiction is not easy and is often hard to discuss, even with friends. You may have feelings of guilt or shame and also concerns about whether someone, for example, your internet provider, is monitoring what you download or view online. This can lead to feelings of paranoia as well. Like any addiction, pornography addiction has feelings of guilt that go along with it and you may also feel self-loathing or a feeling of failure since you feel that you are unable to stop. These feelings are common and normal and you are not alone in feeling this way. Hypnotherapy will help you gain a clearer perspective on these feelings and give you space to reconsider how you have been viewing and considering the effects or ramifications of your habitual behaviour. Hypnotherapy will also equip you with greater optimism, confidence and determination.

The first step is to admit or decide whether pornography addiction is indeed a problem for you. Just like a drink at the weekend may be fine, looking occasionally at pornography may be something that has no real impact on other areas of your life. However, addictions are fairly easy to spot. Do you:

• Go out of your way to find and look at images or videos, missing out and not doing other things in your life as a result. For example, spending a whole evening consumed in that activity rather than doing something else with friends?
• Search for images or videos when bored or feeling low or lost for something to do? Or when there is a void or gap to fill, do you find yourself thinking or planning when you will next look at pornography?
• Create a whole collection of images or videos on your laptop/external hard drive etc. Would you hesitate before deciding to delete these, since you feel you somehow need them?

If those questions rang a bell, then it is possible that your use of pornography has an addictive aspect to it and it may be time to do something. Remember that when something, be it alcohol, food, cigarettes or pornography feel that they are out of control, are affecting your life negatively or that you feel that you are unsure how you would cope without them, then there is an addictive element there. Pornography addiction, like any addiction, can indeed be reduced and with help, you can feel a greater sense of control. Hypnotherapy is a very widely used technique to help reduce the power of addictions, helping you to move the control away from the addiction and back to you.

Hypnotherapy sessions will also incorporate a whole range of tools to help with pornography addiction. Hypnotherapy can help change your perspective and various ‘talking’ techniques will help you feel differently too. It is vitally important to consider why pornography has had such a stronghold on you and you will look at the underlying reasons for your desire and addiction.