3 Habits for Healthy Sexual Recovery

Recovery from sexual addiction can be difficult, especially once you ready to finally re-enter the dating world.

It doesn’t have to be impossible, though. By developing habits, you’ll be able to participate in strong, healthy relationships while simultaneously maintaining your sobriety.

Developing habits

Discovering healthy habits starts while in meetings. Discuss with your group or accountability partner what they think healthy habits are, and define unhealthy habits. Together, you can develop a healthy habit plan to take with you into your recovery.

There are endless examples of healthy habits, but our top three are below:

1. Have a variety of friends

First and foremost, have a wide variety of friends. This includes friendships with the opposite gender. It may seem counterintuitive in some aspects, but there are actually a lot of benefits from befriending the opposite sex.

Making a variety of friends will help you step out of your comfort zone while allowing you to develop healthy connections with other people, without a focus on sexual interaction.

2. Form a recovery dating plan

You should also make an effort to form and abide by a recovery dating plan. Again, be sure to consult your support group when devising this strategy. However, it is an important aspect of moving forward in a healthy relationship and should be considered one of your priorities.

Make an effort to list out a schedule of events so you know to keep on track and not move towards intimacy with an individual until you’ve had ample time to get to know them. You should also be planning for warning signs and deal breakers.

Warning signs

Warning signs are actions or behaviors that may lead you towards your addictive behaviors. These can be anxiety, or compulsive thoughts.

Deal breakers

Absolute deal breakers, on the other hand, are behaviors that are directly linked to your past addiction. These include rationalizing, lying, and altering your daily schedule for relationships.

3. Value your values

Throughout your recovery, it is extremely important that you always value your values.

Accepting and healing from sexual addiction means that you are embarking on a journey in which you understand your negative habits. You are going to be learning while simultaneously teaching yourself how to enter into and maintain a healthy relationship based on your core values and not addictive behavior.

Practice transparency and patience. These will be the basis for your healthy recovery moving forward. Gone are the days of instant gratification- now you must put in time and effort to find happiness outside of your addiction, with complete honesty and a long-term viewpoint.

Seek advice

Would you like to discuss your addiction and healthy habits with a licensed professional? That’s great!

At Coeur d’Alene Counseling, we offer counseling and treatment for sexual addiction by teaching you how to heal old wounds and form safe, healthy connections with others.

Give us a call today, we want to help you form a healthy path towards sexual recovery!

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