Insights from A Sex Addictions Therapist with Kim Saltzman

Treating sex addiction or other sexual issues can be very
difficult. Not only are these issues often shrouded in shame but
it is extremely hard for patients to open up to their therapist
about them. As a therapist who formerly specialized in treating
eating disorders, Kim Saltzman, our guest today, has applied her
skill set to a new specialty: sex addiction. She is a Certified
Sex Addiction Therapist, dealing with a spectrum of sexual
issues. In this episode, Kim sheds light on what it’s like being
in this unique specialty. She talks about the types of issues
that she commonly sees. 

Her passion is not confined to her practice alone. Kim hopes to
become more involved in child and teen sex education by working
with the church and parents. She believes that in providing
parents with tools to answer questions about sex, it will
normalize children’s natural curiosity on the topic. By doing it
through the church, she hopes to illustrate that sexuality itself
is not bad because it is God’s creation. Kim’s approach to sex
addiction and sex education is open and refreshing. Don't miss
out on today’s show!





Key Points From This Episode:


Kim’s background and the motivation for choosing her
specialty.

The links between eating disorders and sex addiction and how
Kim became involved in it.

Learn about what APSATS is.

How a patient would know to go a CSAT over an LPC.

Sexual anorexia: A look into an often-neglected aspect of
disordered sexuality.

More on the work Kim hopes to do in the church and community
around child sex education.

Curiosity is normal and questions around sex should be
normalized.

Without context, learning about sexuality from the internet
can lead to skewed conclusions.

Our culture is accepting of men with sexual struggles while
women feel more shame.

How parents know if their teenager needs counseling for
sexual struggles.

It is usually incredibly difficult to get sex addicts to talk
about their struggles.

Some of the tools Kim uses to help patients put a plan in
place.

An overview of the inner, middle, and outer circle tool.

There is extra shame for Christians who have sexual struggles
and how Kim deals with it.

Kim’s message of hope for anyone struggling with issues
around sex.






Tweetables:


“We have to develop some sort of functional relationship with
food. We can’t just eliminate was seems to be causing the
problem.” — Kim Saltzman [0:03:47]


“There’s no shame in a woman having sexual struggles.” — Kim
Saltzman [0:29:24]


“It’s very difficult to work through a shame issue if I can’t
even talk about it with anybody.” — Kim Saltzman [0:53:10]


“I want to affirm that God created sexuality. He is the creator
of this and he sees it as good.” — Kim Saltzman [0:54:50]


“The goal of our sexuality is to bring two people close
together in an intimate way that they don’t share with anybody
else.” — Kim Saltzman [0:56:24]





Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:


Kim Saltzman


APSATS


Brené Brown


Sex Addicts Anonymous