Sexual addiction devastates individuals, as well as their families, across the country. It is a problem that affects all socioeconomic levels and ethnicities. Fortunately, many exceptional therapists are making rapid advancements in sexual addiction therapy.
Bilingual Polygraph Services provides Full Disclosure polygraphs for clients in sexual addiction recovery.
Sexual Addiction affects both parties of the marriage, therefore we take the family approach with respect to polygraphs. We have pre-test consultations with the partners of the addicts either through phone or email (or both) before the polygraph appointment to ensure that the examinee and the partner get the most out of the polygraph experience. In this consultation we walk you through the process and give you the opportunity to provide valuable input.
How many times has your husband told you that he swears you know everything, only to find out that you did not? How many times can you be expected to go through that? The truth will never hurt as much as the exposure of a lie.
At Bilingual Polygraph Services, our goal is to “stop the bleeding” so you no longer have to suffer through the pain of the truth trickling out a little bit at a time. I use a detailed questionnaire that will jog his memory about any past acting out behavior and will give him a thorough interview leading up to the polygraph. I have given thousands of forensic interviews in my career and know how to help people to talk about difficult subjects that they do not want to talk about.
Talk to most partners of sex addicts and they will tell you they want to know everything now! They often spend hours begging and pleading with their spouse to give them all the information about his acting out. Due to the addict’s fear and shame, this inevitably ends up with a staggered disclosure, over months or years, filled with lies and half-truths.
Each time new information is revealed it magnifies the trauma caused to the partner after the initial discovery of the addiction.
Maintenance Polygraphs
Your husband has passed his Full Disclosure Polygraph! Now is a good time to consider the Maintenance Polygraph. A maintenance polygraph is a wonderful tool to ensure that your partner is maintaining his sobriety and your safety. With all addictions, the first year of sobriety is when slips are most likely to occur. We recommend Maintenance tests every 3-6 months the first year. Once your partner has a solid record of passing several of these tests, the frequency can decrease to once a year until you both feel you do not need me anymore.
We recommend the first two or three follow-up polygraphs be done every three to six months after the initial one and at least yearly after that.
In Surviving Disclosure, Schneider and Corley explain, “While our research has shown that partners who requested polygraph to verify the addict’s report of his or her behavior also report it as helpful to increase trust, polygraphs needs to be used with caution.” This couldn’t be more true.
The two biggest mistakes I see couples make with polygraphs are going directly to an examiner without going through a therapist experienced in using polygraph with disclosure and using the wrong examiner.
Polygraph examiners are not trained in sex addiction or in therapeutic disclosures. They will most likely treat the addict like a criminal and the partner won’t get all the information she needs. It is important to find someone with experience working with sex addiction clients and a good reputation amongst local therapists. Trying to go it alone will almost undoubtedly be a disaster. It is difficult to find a good polygraph examiner for the specific purpose of therapeutic disclosure. I often say, “Polygraph is only as good as the polygraph examiner.”
Bilingual Polygraph Services has conducted hundreds of polygraphs for therapeutic sexual addition cases for many years. We are experts and work closely with therapists to provide the best therapeutic polygraph services that yield the best results in the aid of the sexual addiction recovery process.
Benefits of Polygraph Testing for Partners:
· Provides a practical way for the truth to be obtained.
· Infuses early recovery work with an added measure of accountability.
· Helps restore one’s own sense of ‘gut’ by affirming what is already known and identifying the unknowns.
· Offers protection from partial disclosures when conducted in advance of a therapeutic disclosure meeting.
· Validates the partner’s sense that something was ‘off’ prior to discovery.
· Helps establish emotional and physical safety.
· Provides an indicator of the addict’s commitment to recovery and willingness to come clean (or lack thereof).
· Reduces “run-away” thinking by ruling out types of behavior the partner may have thought was in the mix.
Benefits of Polygraph Testing for Recovering Addicts:
· Provides a means by which he or she may begin to restore trust with their partner.
· Provides a practical way to rule out behavior he or she may be suspected of being involved in.
· Encourages a more rigorously vetted and prepared disclosure document.
· Increases accountability to self, one’s partner, and the treatment team.
· Provides back-up if the partner is triggered at a future date.
· Speeds up recovery work by coming fully clean about the scope of the addiction early on.
We are here to help. Schedule your polygraph appointment with BPS today.
