Do you intend to be free from addictive sexual behavior, but struggle every time that you are triggered? Do you find yourself feeling like a failure every time you give into an addictive behavior, and wonder if you or else will ever fully recover? If you answered yes to either of these two questions, then this week's blog post is for you!

Addiction Triggers Are a Problem for Many People

So many people make a choice to recover from one or more addictions that they suffer from, but the triggers that have tripped them up in the past never go away. Then it becomes essential that people develop methods of coping with these triggers to avoid relapse into addiction. This is true regardless of what the addiction is about, but it can be especially triggering for those who suffer from compulsive or addictive sexual behavior.

Addiction Triggers Complicate Recovery for Most People

As I mentioned above, so many people make an effort to recover from their various addictions, only to be repeatedly tripped up by things that trigger the addictive behavior. Part of the problem is internal, which many times involves traumas, and the feelings that people get when they engage in addictive behaviors that medicate those traumas. Another part of the problem is the triggers for the addictions that can cause people to relapse, even when they’ve already addressed underlying traumas and the addictive feelings they get from those. Fortunately, there are ways to cope with the triggers so as to make them less difficult for people to deal with.

How to Cope with Addiction Triggers

As I mentioned above, it is important for addressing the internal feelings and traumas that contribute to addictive behaviors, but that does not mean that your attempts to cope with the triggers of these addictions will have no effect unless you do that first. The only difference is that if you’ve dealt with the traumas and the addictive feelings that relate to the addictive behavior, the triggers have less ability to trip you up. But regardless of this, there are some tried in true ways of coping successfully with addiction triggers. A partial list follows:

• Avoidance: This is one of the oldest methods of coping with addiction triggers, and simply means that if you know you will be triggered by a certain experience, then you just avoid that experience altogether, and hopefully save yourself from relapse. This happens to be one that could become counterproductive if it is the only one that you use.

• Bookending: This involves having some communication with one or more supportive others before and after a potentially triggering experience. For example, if you are going to a place where you have had problems with addictive behavior before, then talking to a supportive friend or family member before the experience to get support, as well as to talk to one or more supportive others after the experience can help to keep it from being a relapse in the near term.

• Tapping: Also known as the Emotional Freedom Technique, Tapping can be used as a way to desensitize yourself against something that has triggered you in the past, particularly if it is a feeling like anger that does this. There are many instructional videos on YouTube about how to use this technique, so I encourage you to search out tapping and addiction triggers on the Internet for specific instructions.

There are many other ways to cope with addiction triggers not mentioned above, including using EMDR or other therapies that therapists like me offer. However, anything you do to help to cope in advance with a potential addiction trigger is never wasted.

What if You Continue to Struggle with Addiction Triggers

Sometimes your best efforts will continue to leave you struggling with relapse from being triggered into addictive behavior. I’ve been helping my clients my entire social work career to recover from addictive sexual behavior, and can attest to how cunning and baffling these addictions can be. I would be happy to offer you a free consultation to give you a better idea about whether I can help you with compulsive or addictive sexual behavior, if you are a male who lives in Maryland or Texas. You owe it to yourself and those who care about and depend on you to do everything you can to read yourself of compulsive sexual behavior. Every effort you make on your behalf will be for your betterment and those who care for and love you.

Visit our page on sex addiction therapy to find out how Scott can help you with addiction triggers.

About the author:  Scott Kampschaefer, LCSW is a private practice therapist in Frederick, Maryland.  He has an extensive background in working with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder at a clinic for older adults with these disorders in Austin, Texas.  He now works with adults and adolescents 14 and up in private practice. His most recent book is titled The 5 Pillars of Addiction Recovery and is available for purchase on Amazon and in paperback on this website.