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.

Pornography Addiction Treatment Program for Teens and Young Adults now available in Las Vegas, Nevada

Jeremy Leavitt, MS, MFT-I, CADC-I has joined the network and is now offering the Mending The Armor and STAR Guides program in the Las Vegas area.  

Jeremy is a young and energetic therapist.  He possesses a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice and a Master of Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy degree.  He has training in addictions and has experience providing services as a substance abuse counselor for individuals of all ages.  He also provides services for a number of other issues including couples, families, dual-diagnosis, depression and anxiety.  Jeremy has been happily married for 10 years and has two wonderful boys.  He enjoys practicing and teaching Taekwondo in his off-time.  Jeremy has a 2nd degree black belt and has been teaching martial arts to troubled youth and adults for approximately 14 years.  He feels that this experience is what led him to become a therapist.

Jeremy's professional experience and personal qualities make him a great addition to the network.  Youth and Young Adults in the Las Vegas area who are struggling with pornography addiction will surely benefit from Jeremy's counseling services.

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Q & A: We are not LDS, but I would like to get help for my son who is struggling with a pornography addiction. What is the difference between the STAR Guides program and Mending The Armor program?

STAR Guides and Mending The Armor are nearly identical programs.  Both are specifically designed and created for assisting teens and young adults to break free from pornography addiction and its accompanying behaviors.  They use the same format and share the same treatment philosophy.  They can be used interchangeably.

The only significant difference is that the Mending The Armor incorporates LDS based teachings into the curriculum. For example, In the LDS religion, use of pornography and masturbation requires  youth to repent and confess these actions to their bishop.   Youth who complete the Mending The Armor program are given counsel and guidance to visit with their bishops and follow the church’s guidelines for repentance.  Young men in the LDS church who are preparing to serve missions need to eliminate the habit of masturbation in addition to abstaining from pornography use.  Successful completion of the Mending The Armor program requires youth to achieve abstinence from masturbation in addition to pornography.  In contrast, The STAR Guides program recommends that youth carefully consider the ramifications of a masturbation habit and decide on an individual case by case basis the appropriateness of masturbation rather than making it a program requirement.

It is common for LDS youth and non LDS youth to participate in group treatment together with the only difference being that the LDS youth would be completing the Mending The Armor curriculum and non-LDS youth would be completing the STAR Guides curriculum.

Q & A: How long does it take for a youth to complete the Mending The Armor program?

The program is set up with the expectation that youth accomplish two things:

(1)     Achieve 90 days of abstinence from viewing pornography, masturbation and other unwanted sexual acting out.

(2)    Complete each of the twelve chapters of the Breaking Free workbook.

Some of the youth who have completed the program have done so in as little as three months.  However, most youth participate in the program for a longer period of time.  For some, it simply takes longer than 90 days to complete the two tasks listed above.  For others, they continue to attend our individual and group therapy sessions because they find it helpful, even after they have completed the requirements of the program.

Breaking an addiction to pornography can be a difficult process and it is not uncommon for youth to experience some relapses or setbacks along the way.   Additionally, many youth recognize that learning to manage an addiction to pornography can be a life-long challenge and continuing to attend group sessions serves as an on-going source of support in their efforts to abstain and develop coping skills to deal with the temptations they encounter in their day to day lives.

Most youth who participate in the program attend a combination of individual and/or group therapy sessions on a weekly basis.  We welcome youth to continue to participate in the program as long as they desire so long as they find the services helpful in their recovery.

Q & A: Does your program help youth who are struggling with addiction to masturbation?

My son’s main issue is masturbation and not necessarily pornography.  He has looked at pornography on occasion, but it doesn’t seem to be something he does often.  I do know he wants to stop masturbating, but has been unable to stop on his own   Is the Mending The Armor Program something that would help him with this problem?The answer is yes.  The Mending The Armor Program can help teens and young adults who have unwanted habit of masturbation.  Many of our clients have been young men desirous to serve missions, but needing to eliminate their masturbatory habits.We have been able to help youth who are struggling with a variety of compulsive sexual behaviors including masturbation, fetishes, voyeurism, paraphillic infantilism, sexting, and cybersexual acting out.   While the main focus of the program is pornography addiction, Mending The Armor is a recommended treatment approach for youth and young adults struggling with pornography and also a variety of sexually compulsive behaviors.   The program does not provide treatment for illegal sexual acting, but can refer to therapists who provide sexual offenses treatment.

Missionaries, Mending The Armor and LDS Addiction Recovery

​Many of the clients who have participated in the Mending The Armorprogram have been young men preparing for missions or returned missionaries who have slipped back into the addiction.  As therapists working with LDS young men, we recognize the problem is real and that unfortunately, even returned missionaries sometimes need treatment for pornography addiction.

Dr. Don Hilton stated in his book He Restoreth My Soul wrote: “The current scenario of sending the young man on a mission after three to six months of “white knuckle’ sobriety is only setting him up for intermittent struggling throughout his mission, and/or quick relapse upon return and re-introduction into the overwhelming media barrage he will sure face”.

Speaking of returned missionaries he wrote: “Understand that the majority of young men returning from missions are slipping quickly into addiction, and we must be ready to support them with 12 Step support groups specific to pornography addiction immediately upon return from their mission.  We should be as determined to support them as the adversary is to capture them as they emerge from a spiritual high and enter the world again.  If we can change the current pattern of quick relapse after mission, we can begin to see dating and marriage patterns return to normalcy”.

Treatment specific to pornography addiction among LDS young men is greatly needed.  Mending The Armor is designed to meet this need.

Using the YPAST (Youth Pornography Addiction Screening Tool) our outcome studies have shown that participants who have completed this program, participated in LDS addiction recovery meetings and worked closely with their bishops have experienced high rates of success in abstaining and managing pornography addiction and other unwanted sexual behaviors.  The average pre-treatment YPAST score is a 57.  The post-treatment YPAST score is a 19.  These findings suggest significant improvement in reducing and eliminating pornography use among our clients.

It is important to note that the Mending The Armor program is not intended to replace the LDS Addiction Recovery Program, but rather to prepare youth and young adults to more fully benefit from recovery meetings.  Participants are encouraged to participate in LDS twelve-step Recovery meetings in conjunction with the Mending The Armor program.  Clients are prepared to transition from our treatment services into their local LDS Addiction Recovery Programs for long-term support and recovery.

The “Slippery Slope”—Helping LDS Youth in Treatment Avoid Relapse into Porn

Compulsive Use of pornography with or without masturbation often leads to pushing boundaries and morality violations including sexting, misuse of social networks and improper on-line conduct.

In  young adulthood the continued use of compulsive pornography can eventually lead to anonymous sex (met online, in sex clubs etc.), frequenting adult bookstores and strip clubs, prostitutes and massage parlors, multiple affairs, GPS smartphone hook-ups and a multitude of other dangerous sexual behaviors.

For those struggling with pornography addiction, the concept of the “slippery slope” is a familiar one.  Some refer to it as “the bubble” or “the trance”.  These terms refer to the mindset and physical symptoms that accompany the fixation and drive for a sexual experience.   In this trance like state fixated on sexual arousal, the physical symptoms include Increased heart rate, dilated pupils, shallow breathing, sweating,  a “rush” or “euphoric” feeling and the most destructive a Reduced Capacity for Intellectual Functioning.

Once a young person finds themselves in this condition it becomes very difficult to not act out sexually in one form or another.  Teens and young adults involved in treatment for pornography addiction learn to recognize when they are entering the “slippery slope” or “the bubble”.  As part of their recovery plan, they formulate a strategy for avoiding this state by reaching out to others.  Often, those they connect with are members of their treatment groups who are at a more advanced stage of recovery from pornography addiction.

When a young person recognizes the signs of the “slippery slope” they train themselves to immediately text or call a support person.  This act of reaching out to others disrupts the pattern and allows the young person to share thoughts and feelings with another person rather than remaining on the slippery slope and dealing with emotional discomfort through acting out sexually.

Group therapy for teens and young adults is an important part of the treatment process because it creates a support system.  It allows young people to support and strengthen one another in their efforts to overcome the addiction.

The “Iceberg Effect”—A call for parents and church leaders to be proactive in disrupting a pattern of pornography addiction

Research points to the pattern of most pornography and sexual addiction first manifesting during adolescence and young adulthood. A recent UCLA study found that 84% of adults in treatment for sexual addiction issues first experienced their problems during their adolescent and young adulthood years.   However, most individuals don’t seek treatment until later in life.  Additionally, a majority of adolescents in treatment for sexual behavior issues only sought help when the behavior resulted in legal problems such as an arrest for committing a sexual offense.  In the LDS community, often times, it is not until a young man is close to the age of serving a mission before he actively seeks help for a pornography addiction. Recent studies suggest that 93 % of boys and 62% of girls are exposed to internet pornography before the age of 18.  70% of boys have spent at least 30 consecutive minutes looking at on-line porn on at least one occasion.  35% of boys have done this on at least ten occasions.  83% of boys have seen group sex on the internet.  67% of children admit to clearing their internet history to hide their online activity.  These findings suggest that many young people experience problems with pornography and other sexual issues, but don’t get help unless they get in trouble and wait until later in life when the problems become unmanageable.

As parents, church leaders and professionals, we need to do a better job of identifying youth who could benefit from treatment.  Too often we minimize potential problems rather than seeing the warning signals.  Only a small portion of an iceberg is visible above the surface, while the majority of the ice remains under the surface, unseen, creating the misperception that the iceberg is not very large.  This is similar to many young people’s struggles with sexual behaviors. Parents and church leaders can erroneously conclude that their child’s pattern of viewing pornography is not significant enough to seek professional help, and thus the child continues to develop an addiction to pornography by becoming more sophisticated in concealing his actions.  While it is not unusual for a teen to be curious about pornography, parents need to be cautious to not minimize the behavior when they begin to observe a pattern of viewing pornography.  It is also not unusual for teens to lie and go to great lengths to “cover their tracks” in an effort to keep their developing addiction hidden from others.  Often times, youth only provide information on what they suspect others already know and continue to conceal a large part of their behavior out of fear, shame and fear of the consequences.  Listed are behaviors that can suggest a possible problem with pornography:

—  Living a double or secret life related to pornography use.

—  Tendency to isolate self and stay up late at night on the internet.

—  Hiding or attempting to keep secret the viewing of pornography.

—  An inability to stop viewing pornography despite previous attempts to do so.

—  Denial and anger when asked to stop by parents and adults.

—  Continuing to view pornography despite the known consequences of continued   viewing.

—  Depression, irritability, anger.

—  Hypersexual attitude, vocabulary and behavior.

—  Overprotective of their technology (cell phone, I-pod, lap top, etc.)

Help for LDS teens struggling with pornography addiction is available.  Parents and bishops who have concerns or even suspicions can seek an evaluation with a Mending The Armor therapist to determine if their child would benefit from participation in the Mending The Armor program.

Three reasons why today’s youth are vulnerable to developing addiction to pornography

Mental health professionals are seeing a pattern of more and more teens and young adults seeking treatment for problems related to pornography addiction and its accompanying behaviors.   This pattern leads to the need for further analysis as to why this is occurring and what the long-term ramifications of this may be.  Studies already suggest that most adults struggling with sexual addiction first developed the addiction during adolescence.  Does this pattern predict an epidemic of future sexual addiction?

The Youth Pornography Addiction Center was founded in 2010 and has been studying this trend and providing treatment to teens and young adults in this area since that time.  Based on its experience, listed below are three reasons why this trend is occurring:

1. Access—Pornography has always been available, but until the age of the internet, had to be accessed in magazines, video tapes and often required entry into adult books stores and was difficult for teens to obtain.  Never before has sexually explicit material been so readily available and easily accessed.   A majority of teens and young adults have laptops, smart phones, I-pads and are constantly connected to the internet.  In a matter of seconds and virtually anywhere, pornography can viewed.  Internet porn is the medium by which most youth view pornography and most of it free of charge and without accountability for age of the viewer.
2. Potency of today’s Porn—There is a drastic difference between today’s online porn and the porn of just a few decades ago. Now, youth can go to countless websites and find more free porn than they could ever find the time to watch….all in high definition video. They can even pick their favorite template, hair color, sexual activity, and just watch video after video of it. It’s all free, easy to access, available within seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a
   week, and can be viewed on phones at any age.  Addicted teens find themselves driven to view more and more pornography and becoming more and more secretive and deceitful in their efforts to do so.  It is true that erotic photos and videos have been around a long time, but the dopamine arousal from turning the pages of a Playboy magazine can’t hold a candle to the steady stream of ever changing erotic stimulation that is so easily obtained from searching for and viewing online porn. This is why online erotica can create such powerful addictions in teens.  Today’s porn doesn’t satisfy teens’ needs; it distorts them. Teens are particularly vulnerable as the strength of the dopamine high is likely the strongest, most euphoric sensation they have ever experienced in their young lives. Skeptics need to understand this “high” rivals anything that could be achieved with drugs.
3. Diminished authentic relationships—The rising generation has been using technology on a daily basis for their entire lives and it is interfering with their ability to connect with others in a face to face and intimate manner.   Many teens text far more than they talk.  Some send more than 1000 texts a day.  Many teens spend hours and hours playing video games and interacting with “virtual friends” on Facebook while sitting at home alone and isolated from “real friends”.   Intimacy and connectedness can not occur in virtually or in cyberspace.  The National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health, which surveyed more than 12,000 high school students throughout the country, has noted that feelings of “connectedness” (feeling close to people at school, fairly treated by teachers, and loved and wanted at home) helped significantly to lower an individual’s likelihood of emotional distress, early sexual activity, substance abuse, violence, and suicide.  Another recent study found in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine has suggested that the more screen (computer, video game, cell phone) exposure teenagers get, the more detached they are from those round them.  There appears to be a relationship between adolescent screen time and the diminished social involvement with parents and peers.  Sexual addiction experts suggest that among the core issues driving the addiction is the lack of intimacy and fear of connectedness.

 Mending The Armor is an outpatient treatment program that has been specifically designed to provide youth and young adults with a formal approach for learning to manage and overcome an addiction to pornography and other unwanted sexual behaviors.  This program is currently being offered in twelve locations in the United States and Canada.  See the Locations page on the website to find an office near you.  If you are therapist interested in providing this service in your office, see the Become A Provider page for information on how to join the Mending The Armor network.

Internet Accountability—A key component of recovery for teens striving to conquer pornography addiction

In addition to participation in treatment aspects of the program, Mending The Armor strongly encourages all youth and young adults participating in the program to utilize a form of internet accountability as they work toward recovery. Most young people in early stages of recovery from pornography addiction require external accountability.  Internet accountability is a key component of assisting teens and young adults in achieving a successful recovery.

Mending The Armor has researched a wide range of internet accountability tools to recommend to our clients and their parents.  Covenant Eyes is our choice for this service.   This product includes both internet filtering and accountability allowing parents to control the content of what their youth view on line as well as providing a daily report of all their on-line activity.

Covenant Eyes provides the highest quality service for internet filtering and accountability reporting available. This service can be used on home computers, laptop computers, smart phones, tablets, etc.

For only $10.49 monthly, our clients receive internet filtering services along with a daily accountability report of all internet activity. This report is provided to parents and the therapist. Use our promo code– breakingfree to purchase this service.