With ever-changing technology and increasing access to pornography, it never hurts to have access to a variety of tools.
Different approaches will work for different people. Some might benefit from one on one counseling, while others do well with group therapy approaches. Some might need a filtering software (like Covenant Eyes) while others need to get rid of their tech altogether for a while.
In the last post, we heard from Bethany MacDonald from Naked Truth Project, a group based in the UK.
Bethany shared part of her story of porn addiction as a woman and a bit about her work with Naked Truth Project. Today, I’m letting her introduce you to Naked Truth Project and their program, Click to Kick, an online support recovery group.
What is your role at Naked Truth Project?
My official title is Youth and Schools Worker so I spend a lot of time in schools educating students and training teachers. I also get involved in a lot of the wider charity work and help with educating parents and running our recovery programmes.
What is Naked Truth Project all about?
Naked Truth Project’s aim is to open eyes and free lives from the damaging impact of pornography.
We do this in lots of different ways.
- Schools & Youth programmes
- PG Workshops (a 2hr Parental Guidance Workshop on how to protect and engage your children around this issue)
- Awareness campaigns
- Training for Church leaders
- Books & resources (like Dangerous Honesty – a resource for women)
- Partner & Spouse support – including an online peer support group, resources, Bible studies, and betrayal trauma recovery programmes
- Recovery programmes like Click to Kick
Explain Click to Kick.
We’re so blessed to have Paula Hall, one of the UK’s leading sex therapist, as the Head of Naked Truth Project’s Recovery.
Click to Kick is an 8-week online recovery programme for anyone who is struggling with an online pornography addiction.
The course has been written and adapted by Paula for people who may struggle to afford or find one-to-one support or are just too fearful to seek out help anywhere else. As an online course, it means that people can join from anywhere.
Click to Kick is not a “one size fits all” programme that aims to have people free by the end of
the 8 sessions. Instead, the aim of Click to Kick is to provide accurate information, advice and practical tools for individuals to overcome their own struggle.
Really, the hard work takes place in the week when participants work through exercises and put into practice what they’ve been learning. The course looks at the cycle of addiction, works on personalising your own cycle and then looks at relapse prevention. The tools given help participants to manage their triggers, recognise patterns in their behaviour and also shine a
light on the root cause of their addiction.
The weekly group meeting, which takes place via video conferencing software and is led by a trained facilitator, is a time of accountability, sharing and encouraging each other. One of the really unique things about Click to Kick is that we encourage the group to be in contact through the week. They support each other, encourage each other, pray for each other and push each other towards the goals that they set.
Naked Truth Project is a Christian organisation which, obviously, informs everything that we do. Click to Kick is for people of any or no faith and each group is totally unique depending on who is in each. The devotional and prayer aspect of the group is key for many participants, many of whom are Christian.
Why is Click to Kick helpful for women?
One of the best things about Click to Kick is that it has been written with women in mind.
All of the teaching content, the homework, the videos and exercises are written for ANYONE struggling with porn. In the groups that we have run so far, the women have found that even just
knowing that there are other women in the same position has been massively freeing for them.
Being able to meet and talk with the same 4 or 5 women every week and having the permission to reach out at any point has meant that women are able to experience freedom, even during the two months.
The flexibility and relational aspect of Click to Kick means that in a group of women led by a female facilitator, there is permission and space to discuss things that are specific to women who struggle with this. This has been a really beautiful part of running Click to Kick female groups. For many women, they’ve never been able to reach out to anyone!
Do you notice anything unique in the struggle for women versus men?
We know that shame plays a huge part in anyone’s struggle with pornography.
Shame seems to be intensified in a different way for women and it speaks directly into our identity as women.
The fear of admitting to even having sexual feelings can be crippling because of the expectation and demand for “purity” that’s so often pushed to women!
Read: Yes, Christians Need to Start Telling Their Daughters About Sex
I’m just so encouraged that there are so many different types of help becoming available for everyone who struggles with pornography, but specifically women. The fact that recovery programmes now say “men AND women” and that people are starting to talk about pornography as a “human struggle” means that there is a growing number of women who feel able to
come and share with others that this is an issue. I am slightly jealous that this stuff didn’t exist when I was struggling!
Amen, Bethany! I am right there with you.
Honestly, it is exciting to see more resources being created by women for women and in creative ways. When I was looking for help fifteen years ago, no one was talking about this, and now women around the world are speaking up. While we still have a long way to go, it is very encouraging the progress we’ve made.
Click here for more resources for women who struggle with pornography.
If you think you might benefit from Click to Kick, check out their website. Legally, I have to tell you that I’ve never done the Click to Kick program myself and they aren’t paying me to send you there. Everyone needs to evaluate resources to see if they work for you and your situation.
