| Patrick Carnes PhD |
|
|---|---|
| Citizenship | American |
| Education | PhD |
| Occupation | Counselor |
| Website | |
| https://www.gentlepath.com/ | |
Patrick Carnes, PhD, is an expert in the field of sexual addiction in the United States.[1]
Carnes is currently the Executive Director of the Gentle Path program at Pine Grove Behavioral Center in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Carnes is author of Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction (1983), the first work designed to help addicts deal with their sexual compulsions, and to examine the tangled web of trauma, love, addictive sex, hate, and fear often found in family relationships. His most recent book, Recovery Zone, Volume I (2010), continues to expand his Thirty Task Model for recovery.
He has also worked in the field of sexual addiction in a number of other capacities:
He is the primary architect of Gentle Path treatment programs for the treatment of sexual and addictive disorders. Carnes also pioneered the founding of the Certified Sex Addiction Therapist program, which is offered through the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals (IITAP). This has evolved into a network of local, regional, and residential programs which specialize in this work.
Contents |
Carnes received a Ph.D. in counselor education and organizational development from the University of Minnesota in 1980. He was awarded the distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award of the formerly known as NCSA/C Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH). Actually each year, SASH bestows a Carnes Award to deserving researchers and clinicians who have made outstanding contributions to the field of sexual medicine.[3]
Carnes identified the source of the addictions in the addict's belief system. He stated that a fundamental momentum for the addiction is provided by "certain core beliefs" in the addict's thinking that are wrong or incorrect: "Generally, addicts do not perceive themselves as worthwhile persons. Nor do they believe that other people would care for them or meet their needs if everything was known about them, including the addiction. Finally, they believe that sex is their most important need. Sex is what makes isolation bearable. If you do not trust people, one thing that is true about sex--and alcohol, food, gambling, and risk--is that it always does what it promises--for the moment. Thus, as in our definition of addiction, the relationship is with sex--and not people"[4]
While working in the role of Clinical Director for Sexual Disorder Services at The Meadows in Wickenburg (Arizona), he developed a therapeutic technology on a study of the recoveries of 1,000 sex addicts from 1996 to 2004, lately summarized in his book Don’t Call It Love.