Pornography use and recovery / PPU-A06-1
Urge Pause without Suppression — Concept brief
Understand the idea behind urge pause without suppression and consider whether it fits your context.
8 minutes · Handout · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: Noah practices delaying a routine phone check before applying the idea to a personal goal.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. A pause can create room for choice without treating sexual thoughts as dangerous.
The idea
A pause can create room for choice without treating sexual thoughts as dangerous.
An ordinary example
Noah practices delaying a routine phone check before applying the idea to a personal goal.
What this can look like
Practice noticing an ordinary urge, allowing it to be present, and choosing a next action aligned with the current goal.
Check the fit
What helps create choice without fighting every thought? You may disagree with the framing, use fiction, or decide that this approach is not useful today.
A useful distinction
A chosen change goal and a clinical diagnosis are different questions. Address functioning, control, consent, values, and distress without assuming that sexual expression itself is pathological.
Prompts for this resource
- What part of this idea makes sense to me?
- What helps create choice without fighting every thought?
Conceptual background
AASECT Position on Sex Addiction — American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.