In this one hour and forty five minute talk, Dr. David Ley, Ph.D. and I talk about how the current war on sexuality came to be, how the myth of porn and sex addiction get started, and how we can view sexuality in a healthier way. One theme I took from this interview is the importance of self-forgiveness and self-love in loving—and having sex with—other people.
A note about the interview is this: though science has firmly rejected the ideas of sex and porn addiction, some therapists still treat it. There’s an abundance of therapists and counselors out there not following the science, but following internet trends instead.
If you haven’t seen my interview with Dr. Nicole Prause, Ph.D., we discussed the myth of porn addiction. Dr. Prause is the only researcher in the world with a hands-on lab who studies people watching pornography. She says definitively that porn addiction does not exist, though we didn’t discuss sex addiction much, if at all.
When it comes to sex addiction, David Ley, Ph.D. actually knows a thing or two about it. He literally wrote the book on the subject. Dr. Ley wrote The Myth of Sex Addictionwhich can be found on Amazon here.
He also wrote Insatiable Wives: Women Who Stray and the Men Who Love Them (available here) and Ethical Porn for Dicks (available here).
Dr. Ley brings a lot of research to the table in this interview along with his experience as a psychologist who specializes in sex therapy. We discuss much more than just the anti-sex forces among us and Dr. Ley leaves us with quite a bit of advice about how we can best approach our romantic relationships.
You can read a lot of David’s work here on Psychology Today where he’s regularly featured and visit his official website for more.
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New Battles in the Modern War on Sex With Dr. David Ley, Ph.D.