Sex Addiction: Step Seven of the Twelve Steps | Dr. Doug Weiss
Get the 12 Steps workbook here: https://www.drdougweiss.com/product/s... Get the 101 Freedom Exercises here: https://www.drdougweiss.com/product/1... For the rest of the Sex Addiction Recovery steps in this series, check out our playlist here: • Sex Addiction : 12 Steps Series In this video, Licensed Psychologist and a Pioneer of the Sexual Recovery Movement, Dr. Doug Weiss, discusses Step Seven which is about us “humbly asking Him (God) to remove our shortcomings”. This step is about getting rid of character defects and replacing them by practicing humility & spiritual principles. While working on the previous six steps you’ve been stripping away age-old layers of denial, ego, self-centeredness, and other liabilities that consumed you when you were active in your addiction. When we arrive at step seven, we are ready to stop thinking so much about what we are going to get in life and start looking at what and how we can contribute to others in the world. When it comes to working your seventh step, the quality of humility really breaks down to having a reasonable perspective of yourself. It is quite simply seeing the truth of your life and your place in the world. Taking action means work. I know, most of us are averse to the word “work,” but the kind of work I’m talking about here has nothing to do with punching in a time card and suffering through 8 hours. Our work on the steps simply means using our energy to be disciplined and committed in the pursuit of our goal of long-term sobriety and recovery. It takes work to stand up for ourselves, to be patient or to accept the emotional discomfort of new creating new pathways in our brain and behaving differently than we did in our addiction. Catching ourselves in our shortcomings and changing our reaction takes work. The more familiar you become with your shortcomings the more you start to notice, “this feels familiar, I’d better stop and pay attention to this!” The great news is that when practicing humility in Step Seven you really gain a sense of your own humanity and the ability to have compassion for yourself and for others. We are all in this together, and we are all the same. Putting Step Seven into action means, for example, when you consciously gather the courage to say “no” to the request of a friend who tries to guilt or shame you into saying “yes,” you are actually working your program of recovery. When you set a boundary, pause when agitated, practice restraint of tongue and pen (this is a huge one for long-term peace), choosing not to interact with people, places and things that trigger you- you are working on Step Seven! Want professional support on your healing journey? Get scheduled with a sexual recovery coach or therapist today by giving us a call at 719-278-3708. To download my free app that has free information and resources regarding sexual addiction recovery, visit: https://www.drdougweiss.com/our-app/ Want more resources regarding sexual addiction recovery? Click here: https://www.drdougweiss.com/online-st... Doug Weiss, Ph.D., is a nationally known author, speaker and licensed psychologist. He is the executive director of Heart to Heart Counseling Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the author of several books including, The Final Freedom ™.
