Sexual Health in Recovery: A Professional Counselor’s Manual

"The curriculum provides a vision for chemical dependency treatment I have attempted to address for many years. This looks like an approach that finally meets this need."

--Eli Coleman, PhD,
Director of the Program in Human Sexuality
University of Minnesota

The ideal of successful treatment is to maintain abstinence for the rest of the addict's life; yet few treatment programs meet this goal. For many men and women in recovery, sexual behavior linked with drug or alcohol use is the primary reason for relapse. A large number of addicts have sex/drug-linked patterns of combining drugs, such as crystal meth, cocaine, alcohol, and club drugs, with sexual relations. In recovery, they may be unprepared for the dual absence of drug use and sexual relations. Additionally many addicts have past histories of sexual abuse.

While great strides have been made in treating women and men suffering from addiction, their sexuality is too often marginalized. When sexuality is not directly and positively addressed in drug and alcohol treatment, it can contribute to treatment failure, relapse, and untold costs in the lives of addicts and their families.

Sexual Health in Drug and Alcohol Treatment introduces a pioneering evidence-based curriculum, designed to integrate concepts of sexual health, current sex research, and recent developments in relapse prevention research. Complete with suggested group activities, guided discussions, role plays, and more, the program can reduce the risk of relapse and increase client retention for men and women with sex/drug linked addiction and alcoholism. This curriculum was created by drug and alcohol counselors, sexual health advocates, and sychological/sexological research specialists.

Key Features:

• Helps women and men in recovery identify sexual thoughts and feelings associated with increasing or decreasing risk of relapse
• Is compatible with all treatment settings, approaches, and clientele
• Includes pschoeducational material, experiential learning, skill-building exercises, assessments, worksheets, and more
• Proven to improve client retention and reduce sex/drug linked shame-a common cause of relapse