Spitzer begins therapy for possible sex addiction

March 22nd, 2008 by JILL MILLER ZIMON

So, maybe I need to change the title of this post, Eliot Spitzer incident, Post Number 9 (ok, only Post Number 2): ~~Is he a sex addict?~~ Nope, just human (from 3/11/08) since it now looks as though part of his therapeutic involvement is going to revolve around a possible sex addiction.

From the New York Post (hattip to Bad American):

Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has gone into therapy in the wake of the hooker scandal that swept him out of office, a Spitzer insider told The Post yesterday.

As part of the therapy, Spitzer will explore whether he has an addiction to sex, the source said.

…

…it has emerged he has had a jones for pricey professional girls going back as far as a decade, and hooked up with “Kristen” - the nom-de-sack of 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupre - several times prior to getting nabbed on tape, sources have said.

Experts say this type of behavior exhibits classic signs of sexual addiction.

“If it becomes an overwhelming urge to the detriment of your professional and familial relationships - if it starts to screw up your life - that is addictive behavior,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gardere, a clinical psychologist.

“Someone who displays this sort of behavior could be classified as having a sexual addiction.”

I would agree with this: “…an overwhelming urge to the detriment of your professional and familial relationships - if it starts to screw up your life - that is addictive behavior…”.

Well, if you know anything about addictive personalities and addictions, the issue is often around risk, taking risk, self-destruction, narcissism and the presence of other addictive behaviors.

Here’s a good primer on addictive personalities, especially sex addiction, with a podcast and links to other resources.

Of course the unasked question is, if Ms. Dupre has been engaged in the exposure of her body for money or other gratification since at least the age of 17, accompanied by the drinking of alcohol, does she too have some addictions that should but probably won’t get attention? Is that right, wrong, unimportant?

Yeah. Remember, there’s nothing victimless about prostitution or infidelity.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 5:58 pm and is filed under New York, Prostitution, Eliot Spitzer, Moral Values, Scandals, Sexuality, Society, Women, Politics. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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