Porn and ED

Ever wonder why porn ffed and ed and porn and why is porn so addicting? Well, in today's episode we're going to talk about all those points, so stay tuned when I'm going to be talking with Eric the Powerful. This podcast is for you, the modern man. I'm Dr. Anne Truong, your host. I'm an intimate health medical doctor and best selling author of the book the Erectile Dysfunction Fix. I'll do a deep dive into sexual health and performance and how it affects men of all ages and backgrounds. So let's get started and be sure to visit my website@sexualhealthformenpodcast.com for more information and resources from the show. See you on the inside. Well, hello there my men. I am here today with Eric Zusak. I am so excited but we're going to talk about porn and ed today. Eric struggles with porn addiction and sex addiction and he is now a recovering coach. He is the host of a five star podcast, Porn Talk and he is also an Amazon best selling author of the book Think Big. He helped men worldwide break toxic sexual habits to transform themselves into repairing their relationship and become a better person. So welcome Eric.

Thank you, Dr. Ann. It's my pleasure to be here. We were talking before we started recording and this is going to be, this is a heavy topic but we're going to have some fun with it.

Well, I appreciate that and it's an important topic. It could be heavy and I want to bring real talk into this. And so let's start first with your journey. I'd like to hear about your how you became powerful, Eric, and what was it like to be addicted to porn and sex?

Well, it started when I was very young. I had found some pornography and I was also house sitting for a neighbor down the street who had a massive collection of Playboy magazines and literally was a collector, like collected them back to all the way back.

And how old were you then?

Around 10 years old, something like that. And so I would eagerly, happily accept the offer to house it our dog sit when they would leave. And so it started there and then and you know, it even started back further than that, like with just seems so silly like now because of the massive amount of porn that's available. But like, you know, the Sears catalog, the bra section was or the National Geographic with the native women, you know, with no top on. It seems so comical now. But then, you know, I found the Playboys and then I found a VHS copy of pornography and then I found the crack cocaine of porn and that is high speed Internet porn. And once I found that, I was majorly hooked. But the problem thing of it is though is I finally did realize that I had a problem. For example, I had a friend that was dying from breast cancer. This is when I was much older and we were supposed to meet for lunch and I lost track of time because I was acting out with pornography. I called her up and said, hey, something came up. I lied, which is often common with addictions. And so I lied and I said, something came up, can we reschedule? She said, sure, no problem. Well, soon after that, I ran into a mutual friend and they said, did you hear? I said, did I hear? What about Heather? Well, what about Heather? Heather died. And so I chose to act out to pornography rather than having fun having lunch with my dying friend. And that was a wake up call. And I had many different wake up calls along the way. And I ended up what I call burning days. That's where I would get up in the morning, not intentionally thinking that I'm used porn all day. I'll just say, oh, I'm gonna get on the computer and use porn for a little while, knock one out and. But then I would skip breakfast and then lunchtime would come around and I'd skip lunch because I'm still going at it. I'd be edging, you know, edgingle. And then dinner time would even roll around. And so I'd put, I'd be really hungry. I'd put a, a pizza in the oven, go back to the porn while the pizza is baking. Then I burnt the pizza, come back because I lost track of time because it was porn. You get tunnel vision. And I eat some burnt pizza, stay up to 2, 3 o' clock in the morning, then have to get up and go to work. And it would have the worst, what I call porn hangover ever. I'm literally juiced of my life force energy. My sexual energy is depleted. I haven't slept. I've got very little sleep. And on top of that, add massive, massive amount of guilt and shame. That is a porn hangover.

Okay, so that was actually my question. What is a porn hangover? And so let's kind of backtrack a little. How many years were you addicted to porn? You started when you were about, let's.

Just say around 10 years old to my early 40s. So you could say I'm 50 plus years. Yeah, I'm 52. So you could say, you know, really the majority of my life.

Right. At least about 32 years. And and what the corn give you that was so addictive? It seems like you were describing from morning until night, you will be watching porn. From how many hours would you say on average when you are addicted to porn?

When I was really like, you know, really in it, I would definitely. It was every day and it was usually before bed. So, you know, and I mean, depending on what's going on that day, but, you know, several hours every day. Several hours.

Would you say about six, six, four, four to six hours every day?

Definitely, yes. Yeah.

And even more.

Oh yeah, like, like the day I described there. Yeah, even more sometimes. Yeah.

Okay. And, and how did Paul on interfere or maybe help with relationship with other women?

Well, it didn't help in any way, shape or form, that's for sure. In fact, if anything, it kept me shy from approaching women because, for example, if I'd go out with friends for an evening and there would be an attractive young lady, instead of going up and talking to her, I would be like, well, she may say no, I may feel bad. So I could just go home and masturbate to porn later. So it would prevent me, keep me from reaching out to the real world because there was these fake, you know, this digital relationship that I would go back to. So it definitely did not help relationships, that's for sure. Just a little side tangent. Divorce attorney. There's a divorce attorney group and they cite porn is at least a contributing factor to at least 50% of divorces out there. Now, that's not saying that it's the reason, but it's at least a contributing factor in up to 50% of the divorce cases.

Well, why do you think porn is so addictive? Well, does it provide for. Oh, and, and for men, it seems like men are, are used porn more than women. What does it give men that is so addictive?

What's so addicting with Internet? Internet porn is a different animal. And this is why, this is why it's so addictive, is because we are biologically hardwired to seek mates and new mates. So with Internet porn, you can literally see more potential mates in one sitting than our ancestors would view in an entire lifetime. So we can sit there and click and click and it's novelty. It's a new mate, new new mate, another new mate, another new mate, another new mate. And your brain, it's like, oh, we don't, we're not going to stop. There's another new mate, here's another new mate. And so it's that novelty. It's that novelty of another Potential new mate. And that's why it's different from the old school porn that I grew up with, with like magazines and VHS tapes. But, you know, before we get into. I know I'm opening that discussion. But going back to your original question about why I call myself Powerful Eric, I don't call myself Powerful Eric out of ego. It's because I had sought out help. I went the traditional regular route. So, you know, I went to a traditional therapist. Of course they put me on antidepressants. And then I was told I needed to go to 12 step meetings. For those of you who are not familiar, a 12 step meeting is like Alcoholics Anonymous. Everybody knows AA well, there's. There's a Sexaholics Anonymous, there's Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, There's Sexual Compulsives Anonymous. I went through them all. I did. I went through all of them. And I don't mean I just went to them. I threw my whole self into them for many years, almost two decades. And they have you say that you are powerless over the addiction. And I understand that there's a there in the beginning that is helpful. You have to say that you have a problem. But what happens is. And I know because I did it. And all my friends that were in the programs are. All the program. All the program friends I met. I mean, that you start to identify with the problem. So, for example, I would introduce myself. Hi, my name is Eric. I'm a sexaholic. I'm powerless over porn. Then they have you describe your most worst behavior that you did. So after doing that for years and years and years, you identify. Like, when I would go to brush my teeth, I'm like, yeah, there's Eric. He's the porn addict. Yeah, I brush my teeth. I'm the porn addict. And whatever I'm doing, I'm the porn addict. And that was not helpful. Because now there. That is needed in the beginning. That part of it is necessary in the very beginning. But what happens in these programs is you bring it through, like the whole process through the very, like, forever. You never stop identifying as the porn addict. And so I was in these programs for almost two decades with very little sobriety to show for myself. So I was out of. I was desperate. I was desperate. I'm like, there's got to be another way. And so I found this little app. Unfortunately, app no longer exists. But it was a little app that used the science of mindfulness to break porn addiction. And just on a whim, I thought to myself, I've been calling myself powerless, you know, powerless Eric for decades. I thought, you know what? I'm going to put powerful Eric as my login. And in that moment, powerless, pitiful, porn addicted Eric died and powerful Eric was born. I don't call myself powerful Eric out of ego. It's out of having called myself a piece of shit and powerless for decades. And so that little did I know that that little nuance, that little change would dramatically change my life.

Well, it's a mindset shift.

Exactly.

Be and do what you think. So being powerful, thinking, powerful thinking and doing powerful leaders lead to those behaviors. And I like the way you say, well, when you say powerless, you become less power. You're giving yourself. You. Seems like you don't, you're not in control. So it's. And maybe all those steps should be reevaluated with, you know, as times are changing.

Yes, yes.

So were you also an alcoholic as well?

I was. Well, I guess by definition there was a part of my life that I was. So I guess the short answer is yes. Back in the day, and this is why what I would do is if I was going out with friends, I would drink and get drunk with the intention of knowing that afterwards I'm going to go back home and really hit it hard with porn.

And how did you know you were addicted to. How do you know you were addicted to porn?

Okay, this is a great question. This is a really good question. It's how it impacts your life. Because in the, in the medical fields and the mental fields, they get in this big discussion, is porn, can you be addicted to porn? Can you not be addicted to porn? Is it addiction? Is it not addict, addiction? And know what I say, at least for my purposes, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you call it. You can call it an addiction, you can call it hypersexual, you can call it whatever you want. But at the end of the day, how is it impacting your life? Is it negatively impacting your life? Then it sounds like you may have an addiction to porn, but the question is, how is it affecting your life? Is it affecting your life negatively? Is it affecting your family's life negatively? Is it affecting you at work? Is it affecting your income? And I could say to all those questions, yes, yes, yes, it's negatively affecting all those things. So that's the question. If you're debating, so one, if you are debating like, I wonder if I'm addicted to porn. If you're thinking that, I would say you probably are. Like if you have to think like, am I addicted to porn? You, I would say, then you probably are.

Right. So when you. How do you define negative? Well, what does it mean? It's kind of an ambiguous word.

Right. Well, for example, in my relationship with my wife, would I choose to engage with my wife or not even bother because she may say no. Just like the example I said earlier about not approaching an attractive woman before I was married, you know, at a bar or wherever, because I knew I could fall back on the porn. Same thing at home with my wife. It's like, do I bother to engage with her or do I just go and use porn? So there's less intimacy, less openness with my wife? Lying to cover up what I'm doing. That's another thing. Lying. Do you. Do you lie to people to say what you're doing at that time? Oh, where were you? I thought you were supposed to be at so and so's place. Oh, I was. I was at the doctor. At a doctor? No, you're at home using porn. So lying, you know, that would be another big red flag, hurting yourself that you masturbate so much that you're. You literally hurt your penis. So, I mean, there's. There's a lot of red flags.

I see. So let me ask you this question. Is the orgasm, ejaculation the same with porn? Masturbation compared to if you were with another person or with your wife?

No, better. I'd say it's. I'd say it's way different. It's a lot different. And that the. When using porn, it's primarily like really just focused on your genitals or. Whereas with my. With a. With another person, it's a whole body experience. And I gotta say, after I stopped masturbating first, I stopped masturbating porn, and then I. Some guys choose and some. Some do and some don't choose to actually stop masturbating as well. And I chose to do that. And when I stopped that, wow, I was like. I told my wife, I was like, wow, this is what sex is supposed to feel like because the orgasms were incredible. And like, you know, it's a whole body sensory thing. And so, yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot different. It's definitely a lot different.

So the pleasure is different.

Yes.

Like having an orgasm with porn versus having an orgasm with a partner.

Right.

And you're so. It. It's a better experience, in my opinion.

Yes.

Okay. Yeah. Okay. So. So what? Why do men gravitate towards More porn. Because they don't want to deal with this other issue, the other issue with the other partner. And it's just easier access.

Well, easy access. That's the thing. I don't think anybody sits down and thinks, you know, oh, do I want to have sex? Trying to have sex with my wife or. That scenario I painted earlier really wasn't so much a conscious choice. It's just subconsciously, it's easy. Like, we all carry around with us the world's largest porn library that has ever existed in the history of mankind in our. Literally in our pocket. Yeah. And then if we don't have our phone, there's another digital device easily accessible. I mean, computers are everywhere. And if it's not, you know, it's a laptop, if it's a pad. So the. And, you know, you'd ask about the addiction part of it. That is a thing that really makes Internet porn addiction so strong, is it's readily available. And it's really. I mean, you can pay for porn too, and it's free. You know, at least with drugs and alcohol there's some money involved, you know, and like I said, there can be with porn too, but I mean, my gosh, it's readily accessible. Oh, no, that's another thing too. I mean, with drugs and alcohol, really, you have to seek it out. And maybe in your neighborhood it's easy, but, you know, a lot of places it's not so easy to. So you have to seek those things out. They're outside of you. And it's different with. With porn and sex addiction in that, you know, even if you don't have the porn in front of you, you can just pull up a file in your brain and. And play that file again of that. I mean, you know, I've done that many, many, many times. So sex. I mean, porn. I'm sorry, drugs and alcohols outside of you. But with sex and porn addiction, like for a guy, wherever you go, you bring your penis with you.

Yep. Yep. That's a. That's a good way to say. To say that I. I haven't thought about it in that sense. And so on that note, how did you know I need help? How did you know. How. You know what? I. I need to do something about it. What, what, what was. What was the, you know, maybe one event or compilation of events?

Well, the massive amount of time that I was spending on it. And I knew I had a problem, like, pretty young. In fact, I can remember distinctly in the eighth grade saying, I'm going to stop And I can remember graduating high school, I'm like, I'm going to stop. I always, always use like, some. Either a birthday with a zero behind it or, or some kind of major event in my life to say, I'm stopping, I'm done. And I guess I'm answering the question that way too, in that, you know, I had tried to stop many times before and couldn't stop.

So by why is that?

Well, I mean, prior to seeking any type of professional help, I could say I couldn't stop because, I mean, once you get to the point of where you're, like, addicted, trying to stop by yourself is, like, super challenging and hard. I'm sure there's people out there that can do it, that have a relatively mild porn addiction. But for somebody that has a serious porn addiction, doing it by yourself is most likely not going to work. So I was trying to do it by myself and not tell anybody. And so I didn't start to get better until I opened up and like, hey, I've got a real problem. So the short answer, did your friends.

And family say something to you?

No, I just.

Realize it yourself.

I knew it myself. I knew it myself. So, you know, reaching out for help is critical, crucial, and I know how embarrassing it can be, you know, but it's worth it. It's worth what's on the other side. It's worth what's on the other side.

Right. So what was, what, what was the biggest struggle? You said you have tried to, and then you, you couldn't and you get back on the bandwagon. Why was it so hard? And what made you finally, like, you know, in your 40s? I stop. And now you're, you know, you're 50 and, you know, you, you've been clean. What?

Yeah.

What was the mind shift?

Well, one that. One of the challenging things about my porn addiction is that I was a binge and purger at sometimes. And that means, you know, I'd go, I'd go at it, go at it, and then I'd stop and say, oh, I'm never going to do this again. And then I'd binge, binge, binge, binge, binge, and then stop. And I understand that that type of behavior is even more challenging to overcome. The, this binge and purge. This binge and purge cycle. And that's. I. I was caught on the binge and purge cycle. And so I found that, you know, what I was doing was not working. I was doing everything that the quote unquote, professionals told me to do. And I got to say that these professionals were not sex and porn addicts, you know. And so like I said, I had to find another way. So I started looking at the science of mindfulness. And mindfulness is a very large umbrella term. It encompasses many things from anything from meditation to martial arts to what I use is EFT and the emotional freedom technique or tapping. So all these different things and started using these other alternative tools and started to finally get results. But the biggest thing for me was the major mind shift of, on how I viewed myself. That was the, this was the thing that everything else sprouted from. Once I, I changed the way I looked at myself from powerless to powerful and stopped saying to myself that I'm just, I'm going to be a porn act and I'm a porn act for laughter, life. Once I got that out of my mind, then the tree could start to grow. And then all these tools and other things that I learned were much more effective because I was viewing it from this positive standpoint. So if you can get yourself to the point where you can look yourself in the mirror and say, you know, I'm moving through this challenge in my life right now as opposed to I am the challenge right now. Like, you know, I'm, you know, so it's, I'm moving through this now. Maybe, maybe you've been moving through it most of your life, but you're moving. I'm moving through this challenge is a change of mindset.

Yeah. So let's talk about porn and eating. Yes, yes. So I know that you work with men with addicted to porn and have ed right yourself. So what, what do you observe?

Yeah. So the interesting thing is I did not intend, when I started coaching men addicted to porn, I, my intention was not to like, I wasn't to. My intention was not to reach out to guys with pied porn induced erectile dysfunction. That wasn't my intention. It was just to coach guys addicted to porn. But what I found is like seemingly every other client or every other person contacted me had pied. I'm like, what is the deal with this? And so what I found, or we were just talking about this before we actually started recording, is that, well, the largest growing demographic that takes the little blue pill were 20 year olds because they've been viewing high speed Internet porn since they were very little. However, for myself when I, you know, I'm 52, so this is pre Internet. I grew up with, you know, the magazines, Playboy magazines, maybe Hustler maybe. And then it got to the VHS tapes And that. So yes, I was addicted to porn back then, but I couldn't binge and purge like all day or couldn't binge all day with porn back then because there wasn't enough material. I mean, it just wasn't enough. And so I am lucky in that I do not have or did not have porn induced erectile dysfunction. And I remember talking with another, another person about this and I really think it's because at a very young age I was not, I didn't have massive amount of on, on, you know, unlimited amount of hardcore porn. Mine started off, you know, more soft and then went to the hard stuff. And it wasn't unlimited. I had, you know, I couldn't, there was a limited amount of material. So I really believe that because at.

That time there was no Internet.

Right.

So, so he and I grew up in the 80s and right at that time, there's no Internet, there's no cell phone, there's no navigation. All you have is TV and magazine and radio.

Yeah. So like if you, if I was quote unquote lucky, I'd have a VHS tape that was at the longest 90 minutes. Usually not usually more like 60 minutes. And you know, it's the same person, person or people on there over and over. And you get bored, you get bored with it. And with high speed Internet porn, there's no boredom. It's on to the next mate, that novelty. The next mate. The next mate.

Okay, so how, what, what, how is Ed with related to porn?

Yes. So what happens is these guys contact me and they say, you know, I need help, you know, I'm addicted to porn. But they, but then they go on to say, but the reason I'm really calling you now is because now when I'm with my girlfriend or I'm with my wife, I can't orgasm or I can't even get it up without viewing porn. And so they're like, you know, how do I stop? And I'm happy to say that really if you can, if you don't have a physical problem, and this is your department here, but if you don't have a physical problem, that it is definitely reversible. Like I haven't had a guy yet that hasn't been able to turn it around. And, but of course they stop viewing the porn. I mean, that is of course a very important part is to stop you and the porn.

Right. So. And, and you brought up a good point. Because the things that I do in my practice is to differentiate when, when I see a patient with EDS whether this is psychological or physical, and 90% of ED is really physical. And there's a test that we do that called the penile Doppler ultrasound, where you use the same ultrasound machine that you would look at a baby for when the baby's in the mom's stomach to look at the sex or look at the limbs. When you can do that on the penis, of course, we have to inject a medication to make a man get an erection and then measure the blood flow that flows into the penis to determine whether the penis has enough blood flow for an erection. And the good part is that if I see that there's good blood flow and he has ED, then it definitely 100% reverse or untreatable. And then we just have to evaluate what lifestyle factors he doing that, contributing to that. And, and you know, like you mentioned about porn and then even, even alcohol, because excess alcohol can actually, it's actually probably the number one link to ED is alcohol increase alcohol. And how much the more I do research on this, it's actually, you know, I used to say 14 drinks a week. It's probably now probably down to like maybe seven to ten drinks a week. As in crossing over like too much. Because alcohol is, is foreign, it's toxic. And your body do not make alcohol. Alcohol is ingested, but your body in the, in the liver makes aceto alcohol, which not a component in your body.

Yeah.

So your body have to process that. So that's why your liver, because that's why you have a fatty liver or cirrhosis because, because it's working hard to try to process that and then your body try to get rid of it. And that's why you see all the, the symptoms of, you know, being inebriated and hangover and so forth. Because affect your nerve affect your blood vessel, it affects your hormone. And the recent study that I've seen about alcohol, that even though when you're not drinking, sometimes the alcohol can even affect the nerve in your brain to affect memory. So the effect of the alcohol can be longer lasting. So getting back to ED porn is that. Yes, we can definitely do a test to differentiate between, you know, is it, is it psychological or is it physical? And if they're younger, then it probably, you know, other factors as well. So how do you get men to re to realize that, hey, ED is related to your porn and what is your approach and how to help them?

Well, they have already, when they, by the time they reach out to me, they already have made that conclusion. For example, one client fairly recently did go to a doctor, somewhat like yourself, did have all the tests and they said, hey, you're in great health and there's nothing wrong with blow. Your testosterone, all that stuff, all your levels are all good. He's like, so by that, by the time they reach me out to me, I don't really have to make a determination. They're already coming in saying, here it is.

Right. So what is your approach on how to help them over with their ED related to porn?

Yeah, so it still starts with. Mindset is still the main thing that I will start with. But one of the tools that I found that is really helpful with ED is called the Emotional Freedom Technique, or eft. The slang of it is called tapping. And basically on all your acupressure points, you tap on them in certain ways while you say certain things. And I found to be very effective because it's like an onion. Like, we'll start tapping on the issue of maybe ED or tapping on the issue of being addicted to porn. And then as we tap, these other thoughts will come to mind and then we'll start tapping in that direction and it's really helpful.

What do you mean by tapping? Are you talking physical tapping or really more in like a directional.

No, I'm talking physically with your finger tapping on ACU pressure points.

And as you're tapping in those pressure points, you think about those thoughts as.

I say certain words and then the client says, says them back and follows me. But then after a few rounds, then we go into where I have them, like purposely interrupt me to guide where this tapping sequence. Sequence goes. And like I said, it's like an onion. We'll start tapping on one issue, then maybe a trauma. Oh, here, this is a good point. We might uncover a trauma. So in the, in the past, when my traditional therapies and all that I went to, we discover a trauma and it's like, okay, here's the trauma and okay, let's do talk therapy on it for 10 years and maybe it will get better. But with EFT, with the emotional Freedom technique, with tapping on a trauma, we can bring that level down pretty quickly. And we use what's called the Subjective Unit of Distress scale, or SUDS scale for short. When I ask them, on a scale of 0 to 10, what is your anxiety level, what's your fear or whatever emotion is, what number it is before we start tapping and then what the number is after. And it almost always goes down.

By thinking the thought and doing the motion of tapping on the acupuncture. Point.

Yes.

Right.

Yes.

Really? And how many points are there?

Well, we only use about. I mean, I know there's, there's. I know there's many, but we only use about 10. We only use about 10.

Right. So 10. And how many, how long is the session? How many sessions do they need?

They're, they're short. So typically like a long one would be 15 minutes, but more on average like seven to 10 minutes. And some guys get relief very quickly. Other guys do require, you know, more follow up. But like I said though, it's not just like when I start working with a client, I said this, I say to these, these words, I say, this is not about the porn. This is not about the porn. This is not about the porn. They're like, what are you talking about? I'm here because I'm addicted to porn. Yeah, well, that's just the symptom, you know, and there may be an underlying trauma. And like I'm saying, not everybody has that, but a lot of people do, or at least some small trauma. And in the past I did these programs and yeah, we'd find the trauma and like, there it is, there it is. I had that trauma. But now for my clients have a tool that we can help reduce that level of stress, anxiety or whatever for that trauma.

So you're saying is that there could be some under, you know, a layer of trauma that is in subconscious that somewhat drive them to be driven, drawn toward porn.

Yes, yes. And it's a sub. It's a subconscious thing. Like, you know, I never really thought, oh, I'm feeling bad right now, therefore I'm going to use porn. What would usually happen is I didn't up on the computer like for a couple hours and I'm like, I would get done. I'm like, how did I even get here? Like, I don't even know like what happened. And then, you know, my back of my brain is thinking, oh, I'm upset about whatever. And you, and you need to seek out some type of relief. The porn is easily accessible and it's free.

I see. So it's some type of subconscious, perhaps underlying discomfort or feeling that you're going through that, hey, you're gonna find the outlet here with porn. It's like the same kind of similar to being addicted to, to sweets. Right. When you're not feeling well, you're stressed, you go to refrigerator and get that ice cream, you know? Yes, Ice cream. And binge on it.

Yes.

Dopamine high. Yeah, that's sweet.

Yes. And that's a great analogy. And in fact I've got to say that that is my next thing that I'm tackling is, is a sweet sweets and ice cream. Like for me that's, that's kind of a thing that I go to. It's nothing in any way, shape or form. Like the porn was like it's, it's really not that negatively affecting, affecting my life. But I don't want to take better care of myself. And so that's my next thing. Is the, is the sugar and ice.

Cream still addiction, right? Yeah, still addiction. Porn or sugar or alcohol or even exercise. Addicted to exercise. So, so how many sessions they need to do with, with the EFT technique to finally get rid of their ed well and get rid of the porn?

Well, what I do, I have a 12 week and a 16 week program that I put guys through depending on their needs will define on how much tapping we will do. But I guess the short answer, so 12 and. Or I'm sorry, 12 or 16 week program that they go through and you know, we tap along the way.

All right. And, and it's a weekly session.

Yeah, week. Weekly.

So tapping on acupuncture points and then a mind shift. And so you're also doing counseling as well or there's no counseling?

Well, I don't really consider it so much counseling. So you know, we meet over zoom once a week for about an hour. And like I did the traditional counseling thing which is helpful. Like I don't discourage that at all in any way, shape or form. However, if your intention with the counseling is to get over your addiction to porn, you're going the long hard route. So, so I don't consider what I do counseling because I, I give them. You need to do A, B, C, D like after each session we do. I'd say okay, when you get home you need to do A, B, C, D. And then they come back and or text me or email me their homework throughout the week and they have a lot of things to do. Like it is an intensive 12 to 16 weeks. So that's the big difference is I have a structured plan on specific steps to do each week as opposed to just talking about it.

Right. So you, you hold them accountable and, and you make them implement so that way they can take steps towards recovery. So you have to be invested.

Yep.

And you know, into it. So I love, I love that model. So how successful is this and what has been the, the biggest challenge so far and working with them.

So I'm sorry I lost my train of thought. Could you say that again?

What has been the biggest challenge in working with men addicted to porn? And then, you know, would peed, you know, Pied. I'm sorry, Pied. What, what. What was their. The biggest struggle?

The biggest struggle with Pied is to overcome their belief that it's permanent. Like, you know, like the doctor says. The doctor says that there's nothing wrong with me, so therefore, maybe I'm just like doomed, you know, I mean, there's nothing wrong with me, so why can't I get it up? So I'm happy to say I haven't lost one yet. I haven't lost one yet.

Good. Absolutely. That's wonderful. So. So it's really getting older belief that, hey, I, I can overcome this.

Exactly. And it all goes back to mindset.

That, you know, I'm, I'm, you know, I'm not incurable. I'm, I'm not. I have to overcome that. Hey, I can be reversed. And, and I see that too in, in the men that I work at ED for is really getting the mind shift that, hey, this is reversible. You got to put in some work and some action to reverse this. And it just, you know, it takes time for you to get to this stage. Right. Years over years, years. So it's not gonna happen overnight. And with anything you have to put in the work. And I love that you say that you haven't lost anyone. That's great. You have a hundred percent result. And so I talked about the biggest struggles and the. You work with them through each point and holding them accountable. So how does our listener find out more about you and your technique?

If you go to powerfuleric.com you can learn more about me there. You can also listen to my podcast Porn Talk, and the links are on powerfuleric.com and I would like to one say if you do, you need an accountability partner. I can be that for you. And, and I like to use. I use technology to use what's called accountability software that if someone gets on porn, it will immediately text me in real time to let me know that they're. They're viewing porn. So if you need an accountability partner, reach out to me at Powerful Calm. Also, I'd like to offer your listeners a gift a come bearing gifts. If they send me an email@eric powerful.com and put in the subject line a free audiobook, I'll send them a copy of my audiobook. Everything you know about sex and porn addiction is wrong. The 21 myths about sex and porn addiction. So just email ericowerfleric.com put in the subject free audiobook Eric.

Oh wow, that is awesome. And I actually want to have a copy of that book. Great as well. So go to ericowerfuleric.com and put in the subject line free audiobook. And thank you for that. And our listener will appreciate that. And we talked today about a very a challenging but interesting topic. And I'm sure there's more to talk about. But the main message that both you and I address is that if you have pied corn and juice Ed, it is reversible.

It absolutely is.

You can reverse it and you can be a big part of being normal again. And that you are not broken, that you know, you, you can be treated with the right, you know, working with the right person to guide you. You need to be guided, but you are not broken. And that it is reversible. And that has been my message about sexual health is that I, I believe that sexual health could be present throughout your whole lifetime and that should not decline on that sexual health it parallel general health because it's such an integral part of our life and our relationship, but it also can be complex as well. And so having said that, thank you so much for being on the show and sharing your stories and sharing your method and your free gift. I'm much appreciative that you're here and I look forward to talking to you more.

My pleasure. Thank you so much.

Thanks for listening to the Sexual Health for Men podcast. If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it on Facebook, Instagram or wherever you post. And be sure to tag me and let me know why you like this episode and what you like to hear in the future that will help me know what's great for you. And I would love to give you the most incredible free gift design to help you improve performance quickly. Go to my website@sexualhealthformenpodcast.com to get the book the Five Common Costly Mistakes Men Make When Facing Ed. I would appreciate if you subscribe, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen and just know that you can have sexual vitality for life. I appreciate you. Until next time.