Love Deformed, Love Transformed: A Christian Response to Sexual Addiction
How is human love deformed in sexual addiction? How can human love be transformed?
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Fr. David Bellusci, O.P. considers three signs of addiction and then, by looking at neurotic tendencies within a psychoanalytical framework, as well as the neurobiological nature of sexual pleasure, explores the causes of sexual addiction. Working within a Christian anthropology drawn from Thomas Aquinas, Fr. Bellusci considers the morality of pleasure; how pleasure suggests an antinomy of satisfaction-dissatisfaction. He explores how the fallen human condition effects the will, and the consent to sin. He concludes with a focus on how the addict may be supported, at the psychological, relational, and spiritual levels. |
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Endorsement
Wayne Ottenbreit
Former-President, Catholic Psychotherapy Association of Canada
"With Love Deformed, Love Transformed Father Bellusci offers clinicians a theological approach to the widespread therapeutic and pastoral problem of sexual compulsivity. By providing a detailed but a accessible academic analysis of the topic, he advances a needed rapprochement between what secular science can offer, through explanation of Freudian psychoannalysis, and theological wisdom as represented by Thomas Aquinas. Undertaking this important task will hopefully contribute practical improvement in the lives of many who suffer."