The Renewal Group is an advanced process group for
New York Pathways clients who have made significant progress in their sexual recovery and are prepared to take steps toward the deeper interpersonal changes required for sustained and lasting sexual sobriety.Sex
addiction has often been described as an "intimacy disorder." Sex addicts often engage in destructive sexual behavior in an attempt to escape the pain of the loneliness they feel. Therefore, a critical task of sex
addiction treatment is the exploration of what prevents the recovering addict from experiencing a full and intimate connection in relationships. Client's maladaptive relational styles are challenged by the group
therapist and interpersonal exchanges between group members. The Renewal Group helps the client examine ways in which he/she inhibits their own personal development and impedes progress toward more fulfilling
relationships.
Psycho-Drama and Gestalt techniques are also used with clients as they begin to work through difficult family-of-origin issues. Clients are skillfully guided through the resolution of complex
historical problems and steered with group participation into new areas of healing and recovery. Free of long-standing, stubborn obstacles rooted in their histories, clients regain a capacity to thrive.
As the
destructiveness of active sex addiction is left in the past, clients in the Renewal Group encounter new options. With encouragement from group members, self-care becomes a priority. Healthy sexuality (an
elusive concept for the active sex addict) is at last within reach, and often attained. Ultimately, group members in this stage of recovery report a renewed sense of meaning in their lives, augmented by close peer
group relationships—authentic, reliable, and healing. Upon completion of the Renewal Group clients have transformed their lives and experience a lasting freedom from the destructiveness of the past.
