Robert Weiss (therapist)
Robert Weiss (b. ca 1960) is an author and therapist specializing in infidelity and sexual compulsions as well as he is a digital-age sex, intimacy, and relationship specialist.[1]
Weiss grew up in Westchester County outside of New York City. He did his undergraduate work at Tulane University and then moved to Los Angeles. He was sexually promiscuous with men from the time he was 14 into his twenties when he started attending a twelve-step program meeting for people whose lives were disrupted by sexual compulsions, just at the time that the AIDS crisis was emerging, from which he emerged safely.
Career and education
The AIDS crisis led him to want to study sexual compulsions, so Weiss attended The Fieldston School (Ethical Culture Fieldston School) and then he did his college undergraduate work at Tulane University, New Orleans and Emerson College, Boston. He earned his MSW from UCLA in 1992[1] and his PhD from the International Institute of Clinical Sexology in 2018.[2] In 1992, he took a job working with Patrick Carnes, who did pioneering work in the field.[1]
Since the early 1990s, he has been developing treatment programs, educating clinicians, and providing direct care to people affected by infidelity, sexual addiction/compulsivity, and other addictive disorders.[3] In 1995 he opened his own clinic, the Sexual Recovery Institute (SRI), which offered intensive outpatient programs. This was shortly before internet pornography became prevalent and people began struggling with compulsive viewing and internet dating.[1] However, people coming to SRI often had to pay out of pocket, since its programs were not covered by insurance, and he sold SRI to Elements Behavioral Health in 2011.[4] He became Elements' senior vice president of clinical development.[4] Elements closed SRI in 2015.[4][5] After selling SRI to Elements, Dr. Weiss became Elements' Senior Vice President of Clinical Development. He left Elements in 2017 to form his own company, Seeking Integrity. Seeking Integrity offers treatment for sex addiction, porn addiction, and chemsex addiction, along with free information, videos, podcasts, blogs, daily inspirations, and webinars to anyone who treats or is affected by sexual addiction/compulsivity. In 2018 the World Health Organization announced it would include Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder in the next edition of its diagnostic manual, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).[6]
Books
- Schneider, Jennifer P; Weiss, Robert (2001). Cybersex Exposed: Simple Fantasy or Obsession?. Hazelden Information & Educational Services. ISBN 9781568386195. OCLC 45639054.
- Weiss, Robert (2005). Cruise Control: Understanding Sex Addiction in Gay Men. Alyson Books. ISBN 9781555838218. OCLC 57695041.
- Weiss, Robert; Schneider, Jennifer P (2006). Untangling the Web: Sex, Porn, and Fantasy Obsession in the Internet Age. Alyson Books. ISBN 9781555839680. OCLC 122259893.
- Weiss, Robert; Schneider, Jennifer P (2014). Closer Together, Further Apart: The Effect of Technology and the Internet on Parenting, Work, and Relationships. Gentle Path Press. ISBN 9780985063337. OCLC 812258551.
- Weiss, Robert; Schneider, Jennifer P (2015). Always Turned on: Facing Sex Addiction in the Digital Age. Gentle Path Press. ISBN 978-0985063368. OCLC 910729348.
- Weiss, Robert (2016). Out of the doghouse: A Step-by-step Relationship-saving Guide for Men Caught Cheating. Health Communications. ISBN 9780757319211. OCLC 1023814768.
- Weiss, Robert (2018). Prodependence: Moving Beyond Codependency. Health Communications. ISBN 9780757320354 OCLC 1022500041
References
- McDonald, Patrick Range (15 May 2013). "Rob Weiss: The Sex-Addiction Therapist". L.A. Weekly.
- Weiss, Robert. "Rob Weiss". Therapy Certification Training. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
- Enos, Gary (2015-04-06). "Centers reach out to families of ambivalent addiction clients". Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly. 27 (14): 1–7. doi:10.1002/adaw.30139. ISSN 1042-1394.
- Enos, Gary A. (July 14, 2015). "Prominent sex addiction program ceases operations". Behavioral Healthcare Executive.
- Ivanova, Irina (October 31, 2017). "The lucrative, but dubious, business of treating sex addiction". CBS News MoneyWatch.
- Kraus, Shane W.; Krueger, Richard B.; Briken, Peer; First, Michael B.; Stein, Dan J.; Kaplan, Meg S.; Voon, Valerie; Abdo, Carmita H. N.; Grant, Jon E. (2018). "Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder in the ICD-11". World Psychiatry. 17 (1): 109–110. doi:10.1002/wps.20499. ISSN 2051-5545. PMC 5775124. PMID 29352554.
External links
- Official website
- Weiss, Robert; Ley, David (April 25, 2012). "Interview: Is sex addiction a myth?". KPCC.
- Seeking Integrity LLC