By Perry West
Denver, Colo., Apr 11, 2020 / 06:00 am
Watching online videos leads many men to pornography addiction. But now one set of online videos aims to lead them out.
STRIVE is video series developed by Matt Fradd, author of "The Porn Myth," in collaboration with Cardinal Studios, a Catholic media apostolate. The series, along with online discussion and accountability groups, aims to help men address pornography addictions through an intensive three-week experience.
The program aims to help men with practical approaches that address the root causes of pornography addiction.
"There are very specific things that you have to do in order to be mildly successful in overcoming porn and there are things that if you do then you are bound to fail," Fradd told CNA.
Fradd said the program emphasizes "virtual accountability" between men participating in the program. He said communal responsibility is critical to successful recovery from pornography addiction.
"We want thousands of men doing it together. This isn't an isolated experience where you just go on a bunch of videos. It's actually a journey with literally thousands of men, who you communicate with on a daily basis."
The 21-day program allows men to participate anonymously, and will be offered four times a year.
During the three weeks, participants will watch videos, discuss them online, and take up penitential and sacrificial challenges to help combat pornography addiction.
A live-streamed video from Fradd will be released every seven days. Each week he will emphasize a particular theme: beginning to face pornography addiction, perseverance through dependency, and the means to succeed in the long run.
The men will also engage in daily challenges. Fradd said. Among them is a "sobriety plan," a diagram of three concentric circles. He said the inner circle will include undesirable behaviors, like masturbation or pornography; the middle circle will contain near occasions of sin, like browsing the internet or moments of rejection; and the third circle will note healthy actions, like exercise or good sleep.
Fradd said the program aims to focus on more than spiritual practices, offering concrete solutions that can prevent a relapse into pornography use. He said spiritual exercises are beneficial, but true recovery from porn addiction needs to be encountered with practical and focused tools.
"Giving someone solely spiritual solutions to something that isn't solely spiritual isn't terribly helpful. It would be like encountering a person exhibiting signs of clinical depression and then telling them to [only] pray hard," he further added.
Having spoken to thousands of men struggling with pornography, Fradd said his experience teaches him that community is an essential part of rehabilitation. Besides the group discussions, Fradd will personally communicate with men and respond to their questions during the program.
After the 21 days are over, men will be invited to join small groups of three to continue in accountability relationships.
"This is not something that you can do in isolation, hence the community aspect of the course. You must be accountable to somebody. There has to be somebody in your life that knows when you fall, that knows when you succeed."
The program costs participants $49. Fradd said he aims to work with men who cannot afford the program in order to ensure they can enroll.
(Story continues below)
Pornography is a serious issue preventing men from living fully, Fradd said.
He said over the last 40 years, neurological, psychological, and sociological studies have documented the harms of pornography. Among other harms, he said, studies have linked pornography to erectile dysfunction and neurological damage.
The studies "are saying that pornography is detrimental to the health of the consumer, to our relationships, and to society as a whole. We could say that science is catching up to the truth the Church has always taught about the sacredness of sexuality, about why trivializing it can only lead to sadness and unhappiness," Fradd said.
This article was originally published on CNA Feb. 27, 2019.
