Founded by Dr. Patrick Carnes in November of 2000, the Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT) Training began as a way to address the overwhelming demand from therapists and mental health professionals for tools to help treat an ever-increasing number of patients who exhibited sexually compulsive behaviors.

 

• Sexual addiction impacts millions of individuals and families in the United States and the world.
• The increase in the number of people who suffer from sexually compulsive and addictive behaviors is outpacing the number of trained and experienced professionals to adequately treat those people.
• Many professional education programs do not cover the specific challenges, skills and knowledge required to successfully treat sexually addictive and compulsive behaviors.
• Currently, there is no single industry standard as to what constitutes training in sexual addiction, and no standards regarding ethics.

 

CSAT training aspires to become the industry standard for training in the area of sexual addiction.

 

 

CSAT Approach

 

The Certified Sex Addiction Therapist training teaches the task-centered approach to treating sexual compulsivity pioneered by Dr. Patrick Carnes.  During his landmark 7-year study of sex addiction, Dr. Patrick Carnes identified specific "tasks" typically accomplished by those in recovery from sexual compulsivity.  These thirty tasks span the six stages of recovery described in his classic book, Don't Call It Love-Recovery from Sexual Addiction. Therapists who understand these tasks can maximize the probabilities of therapy and recovery. For the past 20 years, Dr. Carnes has been teaching therapists in the United States and abroad how to identify sexual addiction and what clinical strategies to employ when treating this addiction.  

 

Dr. Carnes utilizes his task-centered approach in treating sexual addiction and compulsivity and has incorporated his experience into the CSAT training. Based upon his research and clinical experience, completion of certain performable tasks by the patient is essential during treatment and throughout the recovery process. As the number of completed tasks increases, so does the success rate in recovery. The training offered allows therapists to learn these skills and then integrate that learning into their daily treatment practice.