In this revised and updated 20th anniversary edition of his groundbreaking book, Dr. Kenneth Adams, a leading expert on covert incest, sex addiction, and childhood trauma, offers tools for identifying and healing from covert incestuous relationships that affect adult relationships and lives. He explains how 'feeling close' with a parent is not always the source of comfort the phrase suggests, especially when that child is cheated out of a childhood by being a parent's surrogate partner. Dr. Adams includes a new Q&A section that directly addresses issues including:
How can this be incestuous when there is no physical sexual contact?
Why is sexual addiction so common with covert incest survivors?
Why is it so hard for covert incest survivors to commit to romantic relationships?
If my partner is a covert incest survivor, how can I help?
Can I pass covert incest on to my children?

Through new findings and expanded discussions on 'engulfment, ' 'excessive guilt, ' 'loyalty, ' and 'narcissism, ' and others, Silently Seduced offers a framework to understand covert incest and its effect on sexuality, intimacy, and relationships to facilitate the process of recovery."

Clinical Management of Sex Addiction's newest edition updates many of the original chapters from 28 leaders in the field with new findings and treatment methods in the field of sex addiction. With a growing awareness of sex addiction as a problem, plus the advent of cybersex compulsion, professional clinicians are being confronted with sexual compulsion with little clinical or academic preparation. This is the first book distilling the experience of the leaders in this emerging field. It additionally provides new chapters on emerging areas of interest, including partner counseling, trauma and sexual addiction, and adolescent sex addiction. With a focus on special populations, the book creates a current and coherent reference for the therapist who faces quickly escalating new constellations of addictive sexual behavior. Readable, concise and filled with useful interventions, it is a key text for professionals new to the field and a classic reference for all clinicians who treat sex addiction.

Clinical Management of Sex Addiction's newest edition updates many of the original chapters from 28 leaders in the field with new findings and treatment methods in the field of sex addiction. With a growing awareness of sex addiction as a problem, plus the advent of cybersex compulsion, professional clinicians are being confronted with sexual compulsion with little clinical or academic preparation. This is the first book distilling the experience of the leaders in this emerging field. It additionally provides new chapters on emerging areas of interest, including partner counseling, trauma and sexual addiction, and adolescent sex addiction. With a focus on special populations, the book creates a current and coherent reference for the therapist who faces quickly escalating new constellations of addictive sexual behavior. Readable, concise and filled with useful interventions, it is a key text for professionals new to the field and a classic reference for all clinicians who treat sex addiction.

When a Woman Is in an Emotional Tug-of-War for Her Man's Heart

Why can't he commit? Many women find themselves asking this question when inlove with a man who won't get married, won't stop womanizing, or refuses to give up his sex addictions. Often this kind of man is bound by an unhealthy attachment to his mother. This phenomenon is called "mother-son enmeshment." In "When He's Married to Mom," clinical psychologist and renowned intimacy expert Dr. Kenneth M. Adams goes beyond the stereotypes of momma's boys and meddling mothers to explain how mother-son enmeshment affects everyone: the mother, the son, and the woman who loves him. In his twenty-five years of practice, Dr. Adams has successfully treated hundreds of enmeshed men and shares their stories in this informative guide. He provides proven methods to make things better, including:

-- Guidelines to help women create fulfilling relationships with mother-enmeshed men

-- Tools to help mother-enmeshed men have healthy and successful dating experiences leading to serious relationships and marriage

-- Strategies to help parents avoid enmeshing their children

"When He's Married to Mom" provides practical and compassionate advice to the women who are involved with mother-enmeshed men, to the mothers who wish to set them free, and to the men themselves.

A groundbreaking book detailing the unique issues experienced by adult children who grew up with a sexually addicted parent and offering a path to unburden their shameful legacy and embrace sexuality and intimacy without the intrusion or constraints from the past. Adult children who grew up with a parent who had a sexual addiction are left confused, ashamed, and mistrustful regarding the feelings and boundaries surrounding sex, love, and intimacy. Due to the inappropriate sexual behavior of one parent, and the subsequent impact of betrayal on the other parent, these adults carry sexual secrets, have divided loyalties, and are often caught in the middle of their parents' struggles. Having witnessed (or known of) affairs, walked in on a parent masturbating or viewing pornography, received extreme or shameful messages regarding sexuality or gender, experienced sexualized remarks about their bodies, been neglected as a result of the addiction, or were modeled extreme moral values (either too permissive or shaming), these adult children of sex addicts (ACSAs) struggle with their sexuality and longings for love. ACSAs have not had their stories told in any significant way in the recovery literature. Intergenerational trauma is transmitted through the legacy of carried sexual shame-the burden of which is not theirs. Their shame and struggle has often been wedged under various umbrellas of identification: adult children of alcoholics, love avoidant, codependent, sex addict, love addict, and others. A Light in the Dark offers hope for unburdening ACSAs by sharing the experiences of others, as well as examining the characteristics, roles and recovery that point toward the freedom and joy they rightfully deserve.