Part 2: What Sexual Addiction Recovery Actually Looks Like | Steven Croshaw and Chris Raleigh

This is PART 2 of a 2-part podcast conversation. Find PART 1 here:    • Part 1: What Sexual Addiction Recover...   For guest information, see show notes in PART 1. Highlights 0:15 Can church leaders do anything to help people be completely honest and change? 1:45 What happens when you are radically honest? 2:40 We can’t always understand God’s timing for things or why we have to go through them again and again 5:00 Leaders have to surrender too. Surrender those they are trying to help to God. You can’t mess with other people’s agency. 8:00 We can talk about recovery but they won’t know it and understand it till they go through it. Steven explains the steps and what he had to be willing to do to recover. 10:00 It’s necessary to find a safe place to be radically honest 12:00 Practicing honesty brings us closer to Christ. Addiction cannot survive the light of Christ. Without honesty you can’t get there. 15:30 Is disclosure to a bishop the best first step to recovery? 18:30 Instead of trying to decide if it’s an addiction or not, just treat it as such -Create boundaries and bottom lines -Be honest about all behavior -Receive the help you need 21:00 Many people have an aversion to the word addiction. Call it what you want but it’s a biochemical brain condition. It has a chemical hook. 23:30 Watching pornography first brings euphoria but is followed by feelings of shame and anger towards yourself 24:00 Whether you are a periodic user or a daily user it creates a feeling of unworthiness before God, unworthiness of the love from others, and self hatred 24:45 Sexual addiction doesn’t just want more it wants different. Pornography gets deeper and darker. There is a change in brain chemistry. 28:00 A lot of times bishops give advice based on their own experience however they need to keep in mind all the past history and possible family issues of the person they are trying to help 29:00 Pornography is not my problem. Pornography is my solution. So what is my real problem? 30:40 Recovery is being humble, honest, and accountable 31:30 What does it mean to surrender? 34:20 I have to set boundaries to stay safe 36:00 It has less to do with pornography and more to do with the emotions and feeling that we have. It’s very important to deal and process those emotions. For many the solution to avoiding these feeling and getting relief is pornography. 39:00 When it comes to confession there needs to be consequences. Bishops should give consequences because it helps change the behavior. 42:20 It’s important to learn how to process your emotions so that you don’t go back to self medicating with pornography or any other type of behavior 44:15 Taking away a temple recommend is not about shaming but it’s about addressing the problem that it is 45:15 What does it mean to get strength from the Savior and how do we do it? 49:45 What happens when a bishop minimizes a serious sin? How does it affect their spouse? It can cause more trauma and cause her to doubt her testimony. 53:40 If you love me, be honest 54:40 Don’t keep your candle under a bushel. Set it on a hill. The best way to stay sober is to find someone with the same problem to help. We need people to be honest, recover, and then help others recover too. 59:00 How can you tell if an addict is in recovery? He will tell his story. He will be willing to talk about it. 1:02:00 Resources for recovery 1:08:00 Final thoughts for leaders For links related to this video, visit https://leadingsaints.org/part-2-what...