Real Hope, True Freedom: Understanding and Coping with Sex Addiction

“Dr. Milton Magness and Marsha Means’s new book, Real Hope, True Freedom: Understanding and Coping with Sex Addiction, provides an important resource for individuals and families caught in the snares of sexual addiction. Rich with examples taken from the lives of addicts and their families, supported by the latest scientific research, attentive to the role of faith and spirituality in recovery, and organized through a series of candid and frequently asked questions from those living with sex addiction, this book is essential material for a wide range of readers, from sex addicts themselves, to their spouses and families, to those in the pastoral and counseling professions who seek accessible resources for their congregants and clients. Ultimately, because this book offers understanding and insight into an often unspoken yet epidemic addiction in our society, the reader discovers that real hope and true freedom can come from breaking the cycle of addiction and committing to a disciplined and lifelong recovery process.”-Mark A. Heckler, PhD, President, Valparaiso University

“In Real Hope, True Freedom, Milton S. Magness and Marsha Means provide an incredibly balanced, state-of-the-art book that enriches the field of sex addiction. Therapists, clergy, and clients are given brain research, in addition to helpful tools for spiritual and sexual health, and recovery models that are very practical.”-Ralph H. Earle, MDiv, PhD, Author, President and Founder, Psychological Counseling Services, Ltd.

“There is a tremendous amount of useful information in Real Hope, True Freedom, much of it presented in Q&A format—questions posed by individuals dealing with their own or a loved one’s sexual addiction, and answered by the authors. As such, the book can be read start-to-finish, or piecemeal as questions arise, allowing individuals with pressing issues to find an immediate answer before looking at sex addiction as a whole or at topics that may be more secondary to them. Though Magness and Means are Christian-based in their approach, the material in this book applies equally to pretty much anyone dealing with sex addiction, regardless of his or her belief system.”-Robert Weiss, MSW, Author, Sex Addiction 101: A Basic Guide to Healing from Sex, Porn, and Love Addiction

“No question we live in a sexually saturated culture. This has contributed to many problems and aided the deterioration of our homes and lives. What God has intended as something beautiful, man has tangled into a mess. Dr. Magness is an expert in helping to untie these knots. As you read this book allow him to guide you on the path to purity and clarity.”-Gregg Matte, Pastor, Houston’s First Baptist Church

“Milton and his co-author Marsha take sex addiction beyond telling the world that sex addiction is a treatable problem. The book’s power lies in identifying real client questions that appear in treatment and then answering them in a language both therapist and client can learn from. Well done.”-Brenda Schaeffer, PhD, Author, Is It Love or Is It Addiction?

“Is there hope? Absolutely! Magness and Means provide much-needed answers to the tough questions every sex addict and partner ask in the early stages of discovery, disclosure, treatment, and recovery. Real Hope, True Freedom is an essential guidebook on the path to healing and wholeness.”-Vicki Tidwell Palmer, LCSW, Author, Moving Beyond Betrayal: The 5-Step Boundary Solution for Partners of Sex Addicts

“Dr. Milton Magness and Marsha Means’s new book, Real Hope, True Freedom: Understanding and Coping with Sex Addiction, provides an important resource for individuals and families caught in the snares of sexual addiction. Rich with examples taken from the lives of addicts and their families, supported by the latest scientific research, attentive to the role of faith and spirituality in recovery, and organized through a series of candid and frequently asked questions from those living with sex addiction, this book is essential material for a wide range of readers, from sex addicts themselves, to their spouses and families, to those in the pastoral and counseling professions who seek accessible resources for their congregants and clients. Ultimately, because this book offers understanding and insight into an often unspoken yet epidemic addiction in our society, the reader discovers that real hope and true freedom can come from breaking the cycle of addiction and committing to a disciplined and lifelong recovery process.”-Mark A. Heckler, PhD, President, Valparaiso University

“In Real Hope, True Freedom, Milton S. Magness and Marsha Means provide an incredibly balanced, state-of-the-art book that enriches the field of sex addiction. Therapists, clergy, and clients are given brain research, in addition to helpful tools for spiritual and sexual health, and recovery models that are very practical.”-Ralph H. Earle, MDiv, PhD, Author, President and Founder, Psychological Counseling Services, Ltd.

“There is a tremendous amount of useful information in Real Hope, True Freedom, much of it presented in Q&A format―questions posed by individuals dealing with their own or a loved one’s sexual addiction, and answered by the authors. As such, the book can be read start-to-finish, or piecemeal as questions arise, allowing individuals with pressing issues to find an immediate answer before looking at sex addiction as a whole or at topics that may be more secondary to them. Though Magness and Means are Christian-based in their approach, the material in this book applies equally to pretty much anyone dealing with sex addiction, regardless of his or her belief system.”-Robert Weiss, MSW, Author, Sex Addiction 101: A Basic Guide to Healing from Sex, Porn, and Love Addiction

“No question we live in a sexually saturated culture. This has contributed to many problems and aided the deterioration of our homes and lives. What God has intended as something beautiful, man has tangled into a mess. Dr. Magness is an expert in helping to untie these knots. As you read this book allow him to guide you on the path to purity and clarity.”-Gregg Matte, Pastor, Houston’s First Baptist Church

“Milton and his co-author Marsha take sex addiction beyond telling the world that sex addiction is a treatable problem. The book’s power lies in identifying real client questions that appear in treatment and then answering them in a language both therapist and client can learn from. Well done.”-Brenda Schaeffer, PhD, Author, Is It Love or Is It Addiction?

“Is there hope? Absolutely! Magness and Means provide much-needed answers to the tough questions every sex addict and partner ask in the early stages of discovery, disclosure, treatment, and recovery. Real Hope, True Freedom is an essential guidebook on the path to healing and wholeness.”-Vicki Tidwell Palmer, LCSW, Author, Moving Beyond Betrayal: The 5-Step Boundary Solution for Partners of Sex Addicts

Milton Magness, D. Min., MA, LPC, CSAT, is the founder and director of Hope & Freedom Counseling Services. A Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist, he served five terms as the president of the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH), the international professional organization for sexual addiction therapists. Prior to becoming a therapist he was a pastor for twenty years. He has a Doctor of Ministry from Luther Rice Seminary, a Master of Arts in Psychology from Houston Baptist University, and Master of Arts in Religious Education from Southwestern Seminary. Dr. Magness is the author of Stop Sex Addiction: Real Hope, True Freedom for Sex Addicts and Partners, and Thirty Days to Hope & Freedom for Sexual Addicts: the Essential Guide for Daily Recovery and Relapse Prevention.

Marsha Means, MA, a trained Marriage and Family Therapist, as well as the founder and director of A Circle of Joy Ministries, an organization designed to help women impacted by sexual addiction and address the needs created by this growing problem. In 2000, she gained international recognition through Prodigals International, an organization she and her husband founded in the Seattle area to train and equip therapists, churches, and lay people in providing help, hope, and healing to those touched by the pain and shame of sex addiction. Ms. Means is the author of Living With Your Husband’s Secret Wars, and the co-author of Your Sexually Addicted Spouse: How Partners Can Cope and Heal.