People dealing with out-of-control sexual behavior (OCSB) often experience shame. Therapy brings light into these dark places. You find you no longer have to suffer alone. Instead, your therapist is a trusted partner in the journey.
Being able to name your struggles is an essential aspect of the journey towards optimal living. Here are some simple sexuality, attachment, and trauma assessments that you may find helpful in your recovery process.
Being able to name your struggles is an essential aspect of the journey towards optimal living. Here are some simple sexuality, attachment, and trauma assessments that you may find helpful in your recovery process.
Sexuality Assessment
This sexuality assessment is called the "Hypersexual Behavior Inventory" or HBI and can be downloaded below. It will help you evaluate your degree of out-of-control sexual behavior. Once you answer the questions, add up your numbers. The total score indicates how much difficulty you have regulating sexual thoughts, urges, and behaviors.
People with a score of 68 or higher are typically classified as having OCSB, sometimes called sex addiction. Their sexual choices cause them significant distress and negatively impact their health, job, and relationships.
People with a score of 53 - 67 often use sex to cope with a variety of life's challenges. Although they're not classified as having OCSB they often go into therapy to regain a sense of choice over their sexual impulses.
People with a score of 52 or lower are typical of the general population. It's unlikely their sexual thoughts, feelings, and urges create significant distress.
People with a score of 68 or higher are typically classified as having OCSB, sometimes called sex addiction. Their sexual choices cause them significant distress and negatively impact their health, job, and relationships.
People with a score of 53 - 67 often use sex to cope with a variety of life's challenges. Although they're not classified as having OCSB they often go into therapy to regain a sense of choice over their sexual impulses.
People with a score of 52 or lower are typical of the general population. It's unlikely their sexual thoughts, feelings, and urges create significant distress.
| hypersexual_behavior_inventory.pdf |
Attachment Assessment
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This attachment assessment is called the "Experiences in Close Relationships Scale" or ECR. It will help you evaluate your style of attachment to another person. The ECR usually takes around four minutes to complete. You'll rate thirty-six statements according to how strongly you agree or disagree with them.
Scores range from 1 - 5. They indicate how willing you are to be vulnerable with a partner, and how much you worry about the attention you receive from a partner. Examining these two areas helps gauge if you are anxious about attachment and connection or if you are more defended against your anxieties. If you have a secure attachment style, the issues are less about your ability to connect with others. If you have a high score in any of the other three areas of the diagram it indicates you have a difficult time attaching to others. Some people feel their anxiety about relationships. Others are better at defending against their feelings of anxiety. Both groups have anxiety. In therapy, we'll work together to examine your defenses against anxiety which helps to treat deep feelings of insecurity. You can fill out the online version of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale here. |
TYPES OF ATTACHMENT DIAGRAM
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Trauma Assessment
This trauma assessment is called the "Adverse Childhood Experience Survey" or ACE. It will help you evaluate how much physical, sexual, and emotional abuse you experienced during childhood. There are ten questions with yes/no answers covering a range of challenging events including domestic violence, parents with substance abuse or mental health issues, divorce, and parental incarceration. ACE scores range from 0 - 10. A score of one and above is a signal of childhood trauma.
The questionnaire is available online in this NPR feature. The article also describes useful information about how your ACE score can affect your health and well-being.
The questionnaire is available online in this NPR feature. The article also describes useful information about how your ACE score can affect your health and well-being.