"A psychologist and bestselling author redefines love and sex addiction as a spectrum disorder, and offers a new approach for healing.
For anyone who has wondered
Why does everyone else seem to be able to make romantic relationships work, and I can't?
What's wrong with me?
Why is love so hard?
Psychologist and bestselling memoirist Kerry Cohen is all too familiar with the questions she often hears from her clients-and has asked herself. Even though sex and love are some of the most universal, sought-after experiences we have, many of us lack the tools and understanding to approach them in a healthy way. Without knowing it, many people struggling with sex and love actually fall somewhere on the spectrum of sex and love addiction (SLA).
Sex and love addiction is still wildly misunderstood. It's shrouded in secrecy and shame, and many counselors lack the training to address it-leaving people who need help without resources. Yet SLA isn't a binary of you are or you aren't, rather, it's a spectrum. Kerry Cohen knows this all too well as both a therapist and someone who identifies on the SLA spectrum. Based on research and her own clinical experience, Crazy for You dives into SLA and provides an inclusive framework for understanding relationships, along with practical exercises and advice for self-assessment, discovery, and healing:
- Part one explains the sex and love addiction spectrum, helping you determine where you fall on it and how you got there
- Part two introduces strategies for breaking the spell of sex and love addiction, like behavior modifications and self-awareness techniques
- Part three teaches you how to navigate healthy, safe, and fulfilling relationships"
"This captivating and deeply emotional memoir pulls back the curtain on the complex relationship women have between their bodies, love, and the way the two work together.
Kerry Cohen is eleven years old when she recognizes the power of her body in the leer of a grown man. Her parents are recently divorced and it doesn't take long before their lassitude and Kerry's desire to stand out-to be memorable in some way-combine to lead her down a path she knows she shouldn't take. Kerry wanted attention. She wanted love. But not really understanding what love was, not really knowing how to get it, she reached for sex instead.
Loose Girl is Kerry Cohen's captivating memoir about her descent into promiscuity and how she gradually found her way toward real intimacy. The story of addiction-not just to sex, but to male attention-Loose Girl is also the story of a young girl who came to believe that boys and men could give her life meaning. It didn't matter who he was. It was their movement that mattered, their being together. And for a while, that was enough.
From the early rush of exploration to the day she learned to quiet the desperation and allow herself to love and be loved, Kerry's story is never less than riveting. In rich and immediate detail, Loose Girl re-creates what it feels like to be in that desperate moment, when a girl tries to control a boy by handing over her body, when the touch of that boy seems to offer proof of something, but ultimately delivers little more than emptiness.
Kerry Cohen's journey from that hopeless place to her current confident and fulfilled existence is a cautionary tale and a revelation for girls young and old. The unforgettable memoir of one young woman who desperately wanted to matter, Loose Girl will speak to countless others with its compassion, understanding, and love."
"'For those of us wrestling with demons—and who isn't?—Lush is a solace as powerful as red wine.' —CLAIRE DEDERER, bestselling author of Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning
When Kerry Cohen reached her early forties, she realized she had a drinking problem—just enough to blur the edges of her life that had become a monotony of working, carpooling the kids to school, and everyday distractions. What she also realized was that she wasn't the only one.
Lush is a gripping memoir that examines Kerry's struggles with alcohol, a struggle that a rising number of middle-aged women are facing today, as alcohol dependency among females drastically increases. A wonderfully poignant and relatable follow-up to her bestselling memoir Loose Girl, Lush follows Kerry as she attempts to rediscover the awe in her life, leaving mistakes, regrets, and the bottle behind her."
