Sex addiction hurts partners in a way that no other addiction can. It is not uncommon to hear partners say ‘I could cope with any other addiction’, or those who are already supporting a partner with chemical addiction say ‘I would rather you went back to drinking’. Discovering your partner has sex addiction is traumatic because it evokes all of the most destructive ingredients of personal pain – betrayal, sexual infidelity, deceit and shame. It also combines the well-known devastation of an affair with the torment and challenges of addiction.