Betrayed partners often ask Sex Addicts and chronic cheaters two questions: “Why did you do this?” and “How did you let this happen?”
Being able to answer these two questions is foundational to the sex addiction recovery process. Without these answers, I don’t believe one can be considered to be in good recovery.
Blind trust is no longer possible for the betrayed partner.
While blind trust is gone, answering these questions helps rebuild a different kind of trust. One where the partner feels safe because her husband can explain his actions and demonstrates he understands how to prevent relapse.
In this podcast, I discuss why answering these questions can be difficult and how men can do the work required to answer them.
The “why” and the “how” of each sex addiction are different from person to person. This is exactly why it is so important for every guy to determine their specific mental process. Without it, you cannot guarantee that your recovery plan will be enough to keep your marriage safe.
If you’d like help defining the specifics of your sexual compulsivity, my book is a great resource. You can find it here on Amazon and the audiobook on Audible: https://a.co/d/0j6eRiQR
Successful men have different addictive pathways when compared to men in the general population. If you are looking for a recovery group designed specifically for successful professionals, visit my website here: https://successfuladdict.com/
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FULL TRANSCRIPT
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– There is a reason
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– why you chose to act out the way
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– you chose to act out.
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– There’s a reason why the particular things you
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– did appealed to you. Right? The brain got
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– something from that.
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– And there’s these two things in the field
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– that just drive me crazy because it’s talked
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– about all the time and neither of them
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– are accurate a high percentage of the time.
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– Right? The two things you’ll hear is guys
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– will claim, and this we all call b
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– s on a ton. Right? The first one
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– we all know. Right? Guys will claim, oh,
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– we weren’t having enough sex. Right? We weren’t
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– having enough sex and so we went and
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– got sex elsewhere.
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– You are listening to the sex addiction podcast
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– for high achievers, business professionals, executives, and entrepreneurs.
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– This podcast is designed to apply sobriety and
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– recovery principles specifically to the mindset of the
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– high achiever. I’m your host, Roland Cochran, founder
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– of The Successful Addict, a recovery group for
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– high achieving men struggling with sex and porn
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– addiction. For more information about joining our group
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– or attending our next retreat, visit successfuladdict.com.
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– And now enjoy the rest of the episode.
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– There are two questions that betrayed partners will
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– ask their cheating husbands,
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– and you need to be able to answer
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– these two questions. They ask,
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– why did you do this? And how did
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– you let this happen? And you need to
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– answer those two questions for two reasons. One,
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– it’s the cornerstone of recovery. Right? So if
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– you can’t answer those two questions,
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– are you even in good recovery? Right? And
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– the second reason you need to ask those
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– questions is that’s the new trust. That’s the
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– new trust. Blind trust from a betrayed partner,
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– you’re never gonna get blindly trusted ever again.
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– Right? You have shown her brain, her nervous
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– system, that you can say one thing and
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– do another. You have shown her nervous system
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– that you can look her straight in the
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– eyes and tell her a lie. You have
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– shown her that you can gaslight her and
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– continue to manipulate her to make her feel
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– like she can’t trust herself and trust her
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– intuition.
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– Right? Her brain and her nervous system will
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– never forget that. Right? So blind trust is
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– out of the question. You’re never gonna have
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– that again. Now, my wife does trust me.
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– She does not blindly trust me, but she
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– trusts me to keep us safe. She trusts
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– me to preserve
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– the sexual energy for our marriage. She trusts
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– me to do that. And why does she
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– trust me? Because I can answer those two
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– questions. I can explain to her
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– why I did what I did and how
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– I let it happen. So So let’s talk
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– about those two things just very briefly. I
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– don’t wanna elaborate on this. I have plenty
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– of episodes on my podcast of elaborating around
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– the why and the how. But I wanna
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– just summarize
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– for you what answering those two questions looks
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– like. So let’s first stick with the why.
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– This one I’m not gonna talk a ton
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– about because I have tons of episodes. I
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– think just a couple weeks ago, Jeremy Mast
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– and I did an episode
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– on the why and discovering the why. Why
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– it’s hard to find and why it’s hard
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– to explain.
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– And really, it’s because there’s trillions of whys.
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– I think that’s the problem with sexual compulsivity
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– is there’s endless amounts of reasons as to
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– why a guy would choose
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– to sexually act out and choose to risk
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– his marriage, choose to risk his career, choose
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– to risk everything. Right? There’s there’s infinite number
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– of reasons. And I think that’s the challenge
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– is you need to find yours.
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– You need to find yours, and that can
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– be very, very difficult.
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– Recovery groups are without question the best way
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– because you’re increasing… Because of all the guys
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– in the room and the masterminding you’re able
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– to do, you could increase the likelihood of
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– you being able to tap into your exact
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– why because you’re in a group of a
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– bunch of other people who are discovering their
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– why. Right? But really, what’s the why look
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– like? In summary, here’s what I would say.
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– There is a reason
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– why you chose to act out the way
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– you chose to act out.
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– There’s a reason why the particular things you
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– did appealed to you. Right? The brain got
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– something from that.
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– And there’s these two things in the field
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– that just drive me crazy because it’s talked
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– about all the time and neither of them
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– are accurate a high percentage of the time.
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– Right? The two things you’ll hear is guys
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– will claim, and this we all call BS
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– on a ton. Right? The first one we
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– all know. Right? Guys will claim, oh, we
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– weren’t having enough sex. Right? We weren’t having
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– enough sex and so I went and got
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– sex elsewhere.
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– There’s teeny teeny weeny bits of truth to
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– that. I would say that that’s just not
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– true. I would say, could the romantic and
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– intimate connection not necessarily be there, and would
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– you go seek that out? Yeah. Humans have
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– the need for romantic and intimate connection, but
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– we don’t need to leave the marriage for
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– that. That’s something you’re supposed to stay, work
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– on, build with your wife. But, yeah, that’s
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– just such a silly excuse. I mean, the
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– truth is
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– men have been brainwashed and hypnotized into
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– needing all of the sex at these certain
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– numbers of frequency. And the fact of the
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– matter is we are having more sex now
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– than ever in history.
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– We know this, that actually, if we go
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– back just even a few hundred years, people
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– were not having daily sex. Right? The further
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– you go back, people were having sex quite
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– infrequently.
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– Right? But my point, you know, back then,
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– life was really hard and they had a
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– lot to do. They just didn’t have that
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– much time to have sex and think about
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– sex. But my point of of sharing that
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– is just that we know this is a
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– learned thing that people have learned to want,
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– that men have trained themselves through pornography consumption
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– and
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– socio cultural norms. We have the luxury of
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– time to think more and be attracted more.
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– But do you need to have sex at
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– this frequency? I don’t know if there’s evidence
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– to back that. Right? So that excuse, we
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– all know that that’s just such a silly
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– excuse. And let’s face it, it’s not your
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– wife’s job
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– in this world to satisfy you sexually. It’s
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– not her job. The other thing that we
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– hear quite often from the why is… And
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– this one is the one that drives me
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– crazy because it’s the one that’s dominated in
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– the field. And that’s this concept that men
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– are doing this
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– to regulate their emotions. Right? To regulate stress,
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– to not think uncomfortable thoughts, right, that they’re
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– using sex or pornography
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– to emotionally regulate. I just think that’s so
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– naive to keep it that limited. Listen, a
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– sexual interaction, you’re pursuing
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– a human interaction with another human. There is
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– a lot of things the brain can get
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– from a human to human interaction, plus a
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– human to human sexual interaction.
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– There is things that you can get from
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– this. Right? When a guy has an affair,
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– there is a conversation that’s being had with
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– that person. There’s a lot we can get
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– from that. Sure, we can get dopamine, but
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– there’s tons of other things that we can
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– get from that interaction as well. Right? A
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– novel sexual experience is there’s a lot going
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– on within the brain there, and I think
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– confining it to this guy is using this
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– to escape his emotions and he needs to
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– learn to emotionally regulate. I don’t think that’s
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– a slam dunk. I think that men can
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– learn to regulate their emotions through other ways
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– and not sex, and still have all the
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– desires to act out in the world because
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– the acting out was giving them way more
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– than just emotional regulation. Right? And that’s part
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– of discovering this why. Right? So I think
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– we need to go way deeper than the
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– sex. It’s why I don’t like to call
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– this a sex addiction because
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– frankly, what I find in my groups is
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– guys are getting way more from this than
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– sex and way more from this than a
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– release or an escape.
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– Right? They’re getting… Gosh, I mean, there’s so
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– many things. They’re getting a sense of power
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– and control over another individual. They enjoy taking
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– risks. They enjoy doing something bad. They enjoy
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– breaking the rules and doing the very thing
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– that they can’t do. Right? Sometimes that’s why
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– paid sex is so attractive is it’s such
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– a gross
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– off putting,
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– really just socially, it is probably the most
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– inappropriate thing that you can do to be
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– a married man paying for sex and hiring
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– a prostitute.
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– But the fact that it is the most
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– off putting thing that you can do is,
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– for some people, the perfect recipe for their
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– particular process addiction. Right? I have seen people
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– who do this because they have unmet human
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– needs in their twisted, delusional way. They feel
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– like using women or getting sexual interactions is
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– gonna somehow
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– resolve this unmet need that they have. I
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– mean, some people do it because it makes
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– them feel masculine, successful,
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– makes them feel like they’re being wanted, lusting
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– after women, or being lusted after women is
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– fulfilling. Again, it fulfills this image of themselves
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– and how they wanna be perceived. The list
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– goes on and on. I mean, truly trillions
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– of reasons as to why someone would do
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– this. But you do need to figure out
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– the answer. And I know that sounds frustrating.
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– Right? It’s like, man, I’m looking for a
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– needle in a haystack. In many ways, you
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– kind of are looking for a needle in
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– a haystack. Here’s the cool thing though, is
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– there are programs like mine where there are
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– systems
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– to narrow down your search radius. So I
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– would say by by the time the guys
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– are in my group for about four months,
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– you’re not looking for a needle in a
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– haystack. You’re looking for a needle in, I
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– don’t know, a a five gallon bucket. So
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– it’s still some work, but the likelihood of
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– you finding those Ys,
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– it’s highly more likely because you can you
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00:08:32.684 –> 00:08:34.365
– can, you know, if you search in a
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– smaller area, you’re gonna increase the chances of
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– you finding it. But that’s the purpose. The
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– purpose of the why, and you’re gonna need
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– to be able to explain this to your
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– wife.
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– Why did you do the things that you
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– did? You need to explain to me what
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– your brain was getting from those things.
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– And again, she needs to know that so
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– she knows that you can keep your safe.
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– Right? That you know how to prevent this
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– from happening again. And the second reason is,
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– she needs to know why you did this
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– so that she can feel like
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– you’re a changed man and that this isn’t
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– gonna happen again. Right? She wants to know
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– that it’s not her.
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– She wants to know that it’s not personal.
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– She wants to know that you would do
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– this regardless of who you were married to
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– or even if you were single. Right? She
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– wants to know that this is a you
266
00:09:15.799 –> 00:09:17.159
– problem, and the only way that you can
267
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– prove that to her is if you can
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– explain it and prove it. Right? So that’s
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– the why. Obviously, it’s a way bigger conversation.
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– The second question that they need to answer,
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– and again, you need to answer this yourself
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– if you’re gonna be in excellent recovery, is
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– how did you let this happen?
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– So this is very similar to the why,
275
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– but it’s a little different. And here’s why
276
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– I say this. The how did you let
277
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– this happen is a bigger question. Right? It’s
278
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– it’s how did this behavior jump
279
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– in priority? Right? How did this behavior start
280
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– taking, you know, jumping our kids, jumping our
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– marriage, jumping your career and your career, jumping
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– the importance of our family’s finances?
283
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– That’s the how that they’re asking is, all
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– of a sudden this sexual acting out behavior
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– started to become more and more and more
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– of a priority,
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– right, to the point where you were willing
288
00:10:03.975 –> 00:10:06.054
– to risk those things. You said, you know
289
00:10:06.054 –> 00:10:07.894
– what? It’s worth the risk. Right? That’s what
290
00:10:07.894 –> 00:10:10.029
– your brain told you in that moment. And
291
00:10:10.029 –> 00:10:11.570
– you need to understand the mechanism
292
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– of how that happened. Because
293
00:10:13.950 –> 00:10:15.389
– again, it goes back to the why just
294
00:10:15.389 –> 00:10:17.950
– in the sense that what’s so important to
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– you that in that moment, you’re gonna choose
296
00:10:20.590 –> 00:10:22.465
– that over your wife? And you need an
297
00:10:22.465 –> 00:10:24.465
– answer to that question. Right? It does go
298
00:10:24.465 –> 00:10:25.904
– back to the why in the sense that
299
00:10:25.904 –> 00:10:28.144
– what you want in this moment, you feel
300
00:10:28.144 –> 00:10:30.304
– so out of control that you’re gonna do
301
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– something
302
00:10:31.184 –> 00:10:31.924
– that grotesque
303
00:10:32.465 –> 00:10:34.465
– just to prove to yourself that you have
304
00:10:34.465 –> 00:10:36.625
– agency and that that the rules don’t apply
305
00:10:36.625 –> 00:10:39.029
– to you. You’re gonna do that. Right? And
306
00:10:39.029 –> 00:10:41.429
– it’s figuring out the how you let this
307
00:10:41.429 –> 00:10:43.429
– happen. To me, it does two things. One,
308
00:10:43.429 –> 00:10:44.730
– it shows you the insanity
309
00:10:45.269 –> 00:10:47.509
– of the human mind. Right? Because we do.
310
00:10:47.509 –> 00:10:49.829
– We just do crazy… Humans just do crazy
311
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– stuff in their bad moments. It’s quite shocking
312
00:10:51.990 –> 00:10:54.044
– to see. But the second reason that you
313
00:10:54.044 –> 00:10:55.725
– need to find it is, again, this goes
314
00:10:55.725 –> 00:10:56.784
– directly to
315
00:10:57.164 –> 00:10:58.865
– your wife’s perception of safety.
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00:10:59.404 –> 00:11:01.804
– Right? Because if you can explain how this
317
00:11:01.804 –> 00:11:04.284
– happened, it really unlocks, to me, the key
318
00:11:04.284 –> 00:11:06.524
– to long term recovery, which is, okay, yeah,
319
00:11:06.524 –> 00:11:08.820
– I figured out my why. But the how
320
00:11:08.820 –> 00:11:10.659
– is, you know, people would often call those
321
00:11:10.659 –> 00:11:12.659
– kind of like the triggers. Right? What is
322
00:11:12.659 –> 00:11:15.299
– the container? What is the life situation that
323
00:11:15.299 –> 00:11:16.759
– you find yourself in
324
00:11:17.299 –> 00:11:19.879
– that you considered it worth the risk?
325
00:11:20.475 –> 00:11:22.955
– Right? That you allow these sexual acting out
326
00:11:22.955 –> 00:11:25.355
– behaviors or these affairs or whatever else to
327
00:11:25.355 –> 00:11:27.274
– become more important than the other things in
328
00:11:27.274 –> 00:11:29.034
– your life. And you need to figure that
329
00:11:29.034 –> 00:11:30.394
– out. And, again, it goes back to a
330
00:11:30.394 –> 00:11:32.315
– lot of the why. Right? In that moment,
331
00:11:32.315 –> 00:11:33.774
– you valued being liked
332
00:11:34.470 –> 00:11:35.690
– more than you valued
333
00:11:36.309 –> 00:11:39.589
– your integrity. Right? You value being cool. You
334
00:11:39.589 –> 00:11:41.690
– value being superior. You valued
335
00:11:42.230 –> 00:11:44.169
– being the guy that all the women want.
336
00:11:44.309 –> 00:11:45.370
– Right? You valued
337
00:11:45.750 –> 00:11:46.490
– her attention.
338
00:11:46.950 –> 00:11:49.289
– Her attention in that moment meant more
339
00:11:49.674 –> 00:11:51.674
– than your family. Right? And and it sounds
340
00:11:51.674 –> 00:11:53.195
– crazy. And some of this stuff is the
341
00:11:53.195 –> 00:11:55.295
– most painful to look at because it just…
342
00:11:55.835 –> 00:11:58.315
– It’s not fun information to share with your
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00:11:58.315 –> 00:12:00.154
– partner. And here’s the last thing I wanna
344
00:12:00.154 –> 00:12:02.174
– say on this before I end this episode.
345
00:12:02.394 –> 00:12:03.615
– Yes. You need to explain
346
00:12:04.309 –> 00:12:05.909
– why you did this. Yes, you need to
347
00:12:05.909 –> 00:12:08.070
– explain to your wife and to yourself how
348
00:12:08.070 –> 00:12:10.470
– you let this happen. But here’s the saddest
349
00:12:10.470 –> 00:12:12.549
– part, right, is as much as you’re gonna
350
00:12:12.549 –> 00:12:14.389
– hear everybody say that you needed to find
351
00:12:14.389 –> 00:12:15.589
– out the why and you need to share
352
00:12:15.589 –> 00:12:17.754
– that with your with your wife and you
353
00:12:17.754 –> 00:12:18.875
– need to find the how and share it
354
00:12:18.875 –> 00:12:20.634
– with your wife. You know, there’s this perception
355
00:12:20.634 –> 00:12:22.794
– that it’s gonna make things better. I haven’t
356
00:12:22.794 –> 00:12:25.754
– seen that. In fact, to me, the why
357
00:12:25.754 –> 00:12:28.954
– and the how is so despicable and so
358
00:12:28.954 –> 00:12:31.779
– and so just stupid and short sighted and
359
00:12:31.779 –> 00:12:34.200
– childish or adolescent or immature
360
00:12:34.580 –> 00:12:36.200
– or selfish or narcissistic
361
00:12:36.899 –> 00:12:39.220
– that even when you explain it to your
362
00:12:39.220 –> 00:12:40.440
– wife, oftentimes,
363
00:12:40.820 –> 00:12:42.339
– it’s not gonna be what she wants to
364
00:12:42.339 –> 00:12:44.100
– hear. You know, she might just say, so
365
00:12:44.100 –> 00:12:47.054
– I married a self absorbed narcissistic asshole. And
366
00:12:47.054 –> 00:12:49.855
– in many ways, she’s not wrong. Right? Oh,
367
00:12:49.855 –> 00:12:51.934
– I married somebody immature and who just thinks
368
00:12:51.934 –> 00:12:52.674
– about himself.
369
00:12:53.774 –> 00:12:56.575
– Sometimes I act that way. I think that’s
370
00:12:56.575 –> 00:12:58.894
– the sad part for everybody listening to this.
371
00:12:58.894 –> 00:13:00.274
– Like the sad part is
372
00:13:01.259 –> 00:13:03.120
– there are times in your life
373
00:13:03.500 –> 00:13:04.000
– where
374
00:13:04.460 –> 00:13:06.540
– it could be even just a percentage of
375
00:13:06.540 –> 00:13:08.160
– your life. It could be 1%.
376
00:13:08.620 –> 00:13:10.320
– It could be one hour
377
00:13:11.100 –> 00:13:13.179
– in a month that you feel this way.
378
00:13:13.179 –> 00:13:15.420
– The problem is in that one hour, if
379
00:13:15.420 –> 00:13:18.835
– you decide to have an affair or hire
380
00:13:18.835 –> 00:13:20.134
– a prostitute or
381
00:13:20.754 –> 00:13:24.115
– consume pornography or some sort of virtual content,
382
00:13:24.115 –> 00:13:26.195
– like, that’s the problem is, you know, guys,
383
00:13:26.195 –> 00:13:28.115
– I I… It sucks. Right? It sucks to
384
00:13:28.115 –> 00:13:30.615
– have your whole marriage and your persona
385
00:13:31.480 –> 00:13:34.200
– judged by one hour a month. It sucks.
386
00:13:34.200 –> 00:13:35.740
– I get that. It really sucks.
387
00:13:36.360 –> 00:13:36.860
– And
388
00:13:37.399 –> 00:13:39.639
– that’s how this works, though. That’s the problem
389
00:13:39.639 –> 00:13:41.639
– with integrity. It’s not it’s not a, hey,
390
00:13:41.639 –> 00:13:42.779
– I’m a man of integrity
391
00:13:43.524 –> 00:13:46.085
– for that whole month except that hour. I
392
00:13:46.085 –> 00:13:48.004
– hear you. I hear you. But that’s not
393
00:13:48.004 –> 00:13:50.725
– how integrity works. You’re either that man all
394
00:13:50.725 –> 00:13:52.884
– the time, every day, twenty four hours a
395
00:13:52.884 –> 00:13:54.725
– day, or you’re not. I just want you
396
00:13:54.725 –> 00:13:57.044
– to understand that’s where the betrayed partners are
397
00:13:57.044 –> 00:13:59.759
– coming from, is they’re not questioning that you’re
398
00:13:59.759 –> 00:14:03.220
– not a complete total narcissistic self absorbed asshole
399
00:14:04.000 –> 00:14:05.600
– 99.9999%
400
00:14:05.600 –> 00:14:07.620
– of the time. They’re actually not arguing that.
401
00:14:07.759 –> 00:14:09.600
– If they were, they wouldn’t be with you.
402
00:14:09.600 –> 00:14:12.019
– Their argument is, yeah, I get that. And
403
00:14:12.080 –> 00:14:13.360
– point 001%
404
00:14:13.360 –> 00:14:14.855
– of the time you are. And if that’s
405
00:14:14.855 –> 00:14:16.454
– the way that you’re gonna be, I can’t
406
00:14:16.454 –> 00:14:17.434
– stay in this marriage.
407
00:14:17.815 –> 00:14:19.815
– Again, so when guys, when you’re having this,
408
00:14:19.815 –> 00:14:21.654
– I know how frustrating it is to feel
409
00:14:21.654 –> 00:14:23.815
– like you’re being accused of being this guy
410
00:14:23.815 –> 00:14:25.174
– all the time. I know that’s how it
411
00:14:25.174 –> 00:14:27.334
– feels. I know. I’ve been in that situation.
412
00:14:27.334 –> 00:14:28.889
– It is how it feels. And when you’re
413
00:14:28.889 –> 00:14:31.549
– in couples therapy, it feels like the therapist
414
00:14:32.089 –> 00:14:33.929
– is talking to you like you’re this guy
415
00:14:33.929 –> 00:14:34.669
– all the time.
416
00:14:35.129 –> 00:14:38.329
– Right? That’s not what anyone’s saying. They’re not
417
00:14:38.329 –> 00:14:40.409
– accusing you of that. They’re talking about the
418
00:14:40.409 –> 00:14:41.610
– point 001%
419
00:14:41.610 –> 00:14:43.125
– of the time that you do do it.
420
00:14:43.365 –> 00:14:45.605
– So stop being defensive. Stop feeling like you’re
421
00:14:45.605 –> 00:14:47.125
– being attacked. Stop feeling like this is the
422
00:14:47.125 –> 00:14:48.565
– end of the world. In the end, you
423
00:14:48.565 –> 00:14:50.404
– guys both want the same thing. The therapy
424
00:14:50.404 –> 00:14:51.845
– team wants the same thing. Your wife wants
425
00:14:51.845 –> 00:14:52.965
– the same thing. You want the same thing.
426
00:14:52.965 –> 00:14:55.044
– We’re talking about that point 001%
427
00:14:55.044 –> 00:14:56.629
– of the time that you all of a
428
00:14:56.629 –> 00:14:57.610
– sudden operate
429
00:14:58.070 –> 00:14:59.450
– from this crazy insane
430
00:14:59.910 –> 00:15:02.149
– thinking where your priorities get all jumbled and
431
00:15:02.149 –> 00:15:05.029
– you do something that can potentially ruin your
432
00:15:05.029 –> 00:15:05.529
– life.
433
00:15:06.230 –> 00:15:08.230
– That’s all we’re talking about. So stop being
434
00:15:08.230 –> 00:15:10.710
– defensive. Stop feeling like you’re being attacked. In
435
00:15:10.710 –> 00:15:12.304
– the end, we need to answer those two
436
00:15:12.304 –> 00:15:13.924
– questions, why and how.
437
00:15:14.785 –> 00:15:16.945
– Thanks for listening to this episode. If you
438
00:15:16.945 –> 00:15:18.785
– are a high achiever with a sex addiction
439
00:15:18.785 –> 00:15:20.465
– and you’re looking for a recovery group full
440
00:15:20.465 –> 00:15:23.460
– of like minded men, visit successfuladdict.com.
441
00:15:23.700 –> 00:15:26.420
– We provide men with a recovery mastermind group
442
00:15:26.420 –> 00:15:27.639
– using four day retreats,
443
00:15:28.100 –> 00:15:30.840
– weekly group calls, and daily accountability check ins.
444
00:15:30.899 –> 00:15:33.059
– If you wanna achieve long term sobriety and
445
00:15:33.059 –> 00:15:34.980
– save your marriage, go to our website and
446
00:15:34.980 –> 00:15:37.300
– fill out our application. If you enjoyed this
447
00:15:37.300 –> 00:15:39.554
– episode, please pass it along to a friend
448
00:15:39.554 –> 00:15:41.475
– in recovery who would benefit from listening. It
449
00:15:41.475 –> 00:15:43.235
– is my mission to get this information out
450
00:15:43.235 –> 00:15:45.714
– to as many high achievers as possible, and
451
00:15:45.714 –> 00:15:47.254
– I can’t do it without your help.
