I got the opportunity to speak with Dr. Nicole
Prause about this important topic that affects so many people
coming from high-demand and conservative religious communities. She
has been paramount in helping my understanding throughout my
career, especially in the dangers of conceptualizing sexuality
through an "addictions" lens. She has some new research out where
they looked at online "support groups," run by unqualified people
that, not only offer tons of misinformation and unrealistic
expectations for young men but also, incite violence.
Dr. Nicole Prause is a licensed psychologist and a
neuroscientist researching human sexual behavior and the physiology
of sexual response. Her research has played a pivotal role in
helping us understand that hypersexaulity might be better
understood as a "non-pathological variation of high sexual desire",
rather than an addiction. She is also the founder of Liberos LLC,
an independent research institute. She states on the Liberos site:
“After ten years of research at universities, I found myself caught
between the prohibitions of my institutions on crucial research and
the free-for-all poor science behind products in the marketplace.
There must be a compromise that uses strong science to inform
sexual health for the public. Liberos is my answer.” Dr. Prause is
currently back at UCLA at the department of medicine as a senior
statistician.
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