Q & A: How is the Mending The Armor program different than the LDS Addiction Recovery meetings?

Mending The Armor is a program that has been specifically designed for LDS youth and young adults who are struggling with pornography addiction.  It is not intended to replace or substitute for the LDS addiction recovery program, but rather to prepare youth and young adults to more fully benefit from meetings and to view addiction recovery meetings as a source of long-term support for sustaining a recovery.  Mending The Armor was created by a group of LDS therapists who spent many years working with teens struggling with addiction issues and saw a need for a program for LDS youth struggling with pornography.

Young people who are dealing with an addiction to pornography need all the support and help possible to overcome the addiction.  The Mending The Armor program provides specific instruction and education to understand the science of pornography addiction, the underlying emotional issues that drive the addiction, managing the shame involved with the addiction and the thinking errors used to maintain the addiction.  The program provides strategies for improving thought and impulse control, relapse prevention and provides a formal way of tracking abstinence efforts.  Completion of the Mending The Armor requires that participates complete each of the twelve chapters in the Breaking Free workbook and achieve 90 days of abstinence. 

The Mending The Armor program is a great introductory path into the importance of using the Twelve Step model and the Atonement for overcoming pornography addiction.  Additionally, the program allows young people to participate in a treatment group with other LDS youth struggling with the same issue.  This can make is easier for youth to participate in group settings as in some cases, youth are not yet comfortable in an LDS addiction recovery meeting.

We whole heartedly endorse The LDS Addiction Recovery Program and encourage all of our youth to attend meetings in conjunction with the Mending The Armor program as well as continued attendance to recovery meetings after having completed Mending The Armor.

Q & A: Can I use my health insurance coverage to cover the cost of the program?

Currently, pornography addiction is not considered a DSM IV diagnosis and therefore most insurance companies will not pay for therapy services.   However, it is not uncommon for youth who are struggling with pornography addiction to also have other mental health conditions that are covered by health insurance.  Most insurance companies will pay for a portion of therapy services for diagnoses such as depression or anxiety.  Depending on your insurance company and other mental health issues which your child may display, will determine whether a portion of the therapy will be covered by insurance.  Some insurance plans have an EAP program that doesn’t include a specific requirement for a diagnosis.  In these cases, the EAP plan should cover a certain number of therapy sessions.In cases where health insurance coverage is not an option, the out of pocket expense will vary from office to office depending on the area of the country in which you live.  In the corporate office in St. George, Utah, individual therapy sessions are $80 and group therapy sessions are $25.  We strive to make the program as affordable as possible for youth who stand in need of treatment to break free from the addiction.

Q&A: I am worried that my son has developed an addiction to pornography, but he is such a good kid, I am hesitant to have him participate as I worry he may be exposed to youth with deeper problems.

It has been our experience that the vast majority of teens and young adults who pursue treatment for pornography addiction are good kids with a strong desire to uphold strong moral standards.  Their inability to shake the habit of viewing pornography weighs heavily on their conscious and this is a primary motivator for participating in the program.  Many of the youth who have participated in the program have been LDS youth who are working toward serving a mission or returned missionaries who have slipped back into the addiction.

Youth who lack a desire to live a morally clean life or uphold high standards typically do not pursue treatment for pornography addiction.  They simply do not see a problem with viewing pornography and are in denial regarding the destructive influence that pornography has on their thinking and behavior.  It is difficult to compel a youth who does not see a problem with viewing pornography to engage in a recovery problem for pornography addiction.

Our experience has been the opposite in terms of problems resulting from youth being exposed to other youth with more problematic behaviors.  Exposure to other youth in the program actually proves to be helpful and not harmful as group members’ support and strengthen each other in their efforts to achieve a recovery from the addiction.  It also is helpful for youth to recognize that they are not alone in their battle with the addiction, but that other young people who are also “good kids” are struggling with the same issue.

Q&A: My son has been clean from pornography for several months without professional help. What benefit is there for him to participate in the program?

It sounds like your son is making progress and it is encouraging that he has been able to refrain from using pornography for several months. The Mending The Armor program can still be of great benefit to your son as we want to assure that all youth who participate in the program are able to achieve a long-term recovery from pornography addiction and not simply be “abstinent” for a period of time. Breaking an addiction to pornography can be difficult and often times can involve multiple periods of abstinence followed by relapses. We believe there is a difference between “abstinence” and “recovery”.

It has been our experience that many youth are able to refrain from viewing pornography by using will power alone for a period of time, but that unfortunately, too many eventually relapse back into the addiction. This happens with some young men who refrain from viewing pornography to become worthy to serve a mission, but with the stresses and demands of missionary life, begin to struggle again with the addiction while serving. This also happens with some returned missionaries who have been able to remain abstinent while on their missions, but upon returning home and reintegrating into society, become vulnerable and return to the addiction. For many adults attempting to overcome the addiction, their pornography addiction has been a life-long issue and only after years of failed attempts, have realized that they can’t do it on their own and need professional help. The Mending The Armor program is designed to help young people learn to manage the addiction while they are still young, so they can avoid having to deal with the problem later in life.

“Abstinence” is defined as simply refraining from the use of pornography through will power, while “recovery” refers to the acquisition of the insight to understand the origins, cycle and underlying issues that accompany the addiction along with the skills to manage the emotions that drive the addiction.

Youth who complete the program are provided professional clinical intervention to assist them in identifying the origins of the addiction, the cycle of the addiction, the underlying emotional issues that drive the addiction and assistance in the creation of a recovery plan. The recovery plan then serves as a long-term guide for effective management of a proclivity toward using pornography. Completing the Mending The Armor program serves as an important tool beyond simply “will power” for helping youth to overcome pornography addiction.