A tool that has helped many maintain recovery is to have a negative experience locked in, almost memorized that maximizes the pain and minimizes the pleasure to act out. For some sex addicts this picture could possibly be getting picked up by the police. For others, their worst picture is getting kicked out of the house for good, seeing their child's faces when they leave, seeing their spouse cry, hearing a judge say "no visitation rights," the loss of a job, a flirt with AIDS or abortions. These are only a few experiences. You may have one or more painful moments. You may want to write out these experiences to remind yourself.

After you write these experiences, picture it in your mind as vividly as you can and feel the feelings. Practice this picture in a public place (you're not as likely to act out) 2 to 3 times a day for three days. Rehearsing this image with the feeling will make you ready to beat the addiction so to speak.

When your addiction speaks to you in pictures, attack back with these painful memories. Shortly you will return to reality because you maximized the pain of the addiction and minimized the temporary escape or pleasure.