Pornography use and recovery / PPU-A18-3
When Specialist Assessment May Help — Clinician dialogue
Guide a collaborative conversation about when specialist assessment may help while checking fit and participant choice.
15 minutes · Clinician script · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Noah reports repeated unsuccessful attempts to change a pattern affecting work.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. Persistent impaired control or significant functional effects deserve individualized assessment.
Invite and obtain permission
Offer: "Would it be useful to explore when specialist assessment may help using an ordinary or fictional example? We can adapt it, observe, or stop." Ask what the person wants from the conversation.
Elicit before teaching
Ask: "How does this show up, if at all, in your own words?" Offer this idea tentatively: Persistent impaired control or significant functional effects deserve individualized assessment. Ask what fits and what does not.
Guide the task
Prepare a concise account of concern, duration, effects, attempts to change, mental health context, and questions for a sexuality-informed clinician; do not self-diagnose. Ask for permission before giving an example. Use this fictional illustration if useful: Noah reports repeated unsuccessful attempts to change a pattern affecting work.
Reflect and check accuracy
Reflect only what was offered: "I heard you describe ___. What did I miss?" Ask: What would you want a clinician to understand before offering an explanation? Avoid assigning motives or interpreting silence as agreement.
Respond to a mismatch
If the person rejects the frame, say: "Thank you for correcting it. What would be more useful?" Return to their language or choose a different approach.
Close with agency
Ask which observation, question, or support request the person wants to keep. Confirm a manageable ending and appropriate follow-up; do not turn a tentative possibility into a homework obligation.
Prompts for this resource
- Readiness, permission, cultural context, and access needs to check:
- What would you want a clinician to understand before offering an explanation?
- What would tell me to adapt, stop, or seek supervision?
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.