By Haneen Khatib/reporter
In Love vs. Addiction, NW students learned those with sex addiction can be treated.
Valton Triche, CEO of the nonprofit organization Project Samson, said his group primarily works with men.
“We believe that there is help, and you don’t have to live with this condition the rest of your life,” he said.
“It is really all about changing the way they think. You will find throughout sex addiction, the pattern of thinking is really basic throughout the addiction, so we change the pattern.”
Triche described different ways to help with sex addiction: therapy, 12-step program, medication, programs and counseling sessions.
“What I do is I mentor them one on one. Sobriety coach is what I’d like to call it,” he said.
He helps them maintain their sobriety and provides different workshops, different things that will help them gain control over their addiction.
“Within the past few years, people are just starting to recognize it,” he said when asked about the recent media attention.
“There were sex addicts long before Tiger Woods. He just brought it to light. It has opened the door for more people to be like, ‘Oh yeah, I might be like that too.’ And for people that do that, there is help.”
To love, someone has to understand what love is, Triche said.
“If you have no boundaries now, how do you know when it is crossed?” he added. “You could be married and be a sex addict but not want to sleep with your spouse because you are finding more pleasure on the Internet.”
Love and addiction are intertwined, Triche said.
“Those affected by addiction find it hard to love,” he said. “I believe that as a society, as people who are here for a reason, because we are to love, we need to understand love and look inside ourselves.”
