Is Tiger Woods in Sex Rehab? World's Greatest Golfer a Sex Addict?

Rumors have been circulating for some time that while Elin Nordegren is living the life of a single parent and pursuing a divorce, she has also remained open to the possibility of reconciliation with one of her stipulations being that Tiger Woods go into sex addiction therapy. Now it appears Woods may actually be in sex therapy as the National Enquirer has posted exclusive photos of Tiger Woods in rehab for sexual addiction at a clinic in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It was the National Enquirer which originally published the first news of Wood's affair with Rachel Uchitel. After that story came out, more than 14 women have come forward saying they also had affairs with Tiger Woods.

Tiger Woods in Gentle Path Sexual Addiction Program

Tiger Woods has not been seen in public since crashing his car into a bush, tree, and fire hydrant on Thanksgiving. Rumors have placed him in the Bahamas and in the homes of various golfing buddies, but now it appears he checked into the Gentle Path program, part of Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services. The clinic features a sexual addiction program started by Dr. Patrick Carnes, a pioneer in the field of treatment for sexually compulsive behavior. Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services has neither confirmed nor denied the reports that Woods is enrolled in their rehab program.

Tiger Woods in Six-Week Sex Rehab Program

The Enquirer reports that Tiger Woods checked into the six-week program on December 30 and that he is now living without a roommate in one of the cottages at Gentle Path. The tabloid offers grainy photographs as proof as well as some reported eyewitness accounts. Other newspapers and television stations are confirming the reports, and a journalist and author of a book on sex addiction, Benoit Denizet-Lewis, told nydailynews he has verified Woods is in treatment at the clinic. According to Denizet-Lewis, the Mississippi clinic is considered among the best at setting sex addicts straight.

Is Tiger Woods a Sex Addict?

Judy Kuriansky, a psychologist and sex expert at Columbia University, told ABC News.com in December that determining that diagnosis requires several criteria, including determining if Woods "can control his urges, and whether not having sex makes him anxious." Dr. Drew Pinsky, from the VH1 show "Sex Rehab," told ET that while he believes Tiger Woods could be a sex addict, that with sex addiction there's usually childhood trauma which he has not seen any evidence of with Woods. However, as reported in "Profile:Tiger Woods - Golfer & Television Personality" Woods was being trotted out on stage to play golf on television at two years old by his father, and in "MoreTiger WoodsNews and Speculation - the High Price of Infidelity" Woods reportedly said of his mother "She basically laid down the law," leading to speculation that there might have been some dysfunction in the Woods household.

Tiger Woods Sex Addiction Prognosis

I attended a church that had a successful program for sex addicts. From what I understand, sex addiction is much like alcoholism. If Tiger Woods really believes and accepts he has a problem that is out of his control, and if he is sincere in his desire to overcome it, he has a fighting chance to overcome a sex addiction. However, celebrity for a sex addict might be much like walking into a bar for an alcoholic. Temptation is always a glance away. The 12-step program for alcoholics teaches that they must believe in a greater power that can give strength. Perhaps Brit Hume wasn't so far off the mark after all.

Sources:

"While Elin Nordegren Celebrates a Happy New Year, Tiger Woods Not so Much"
"Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren Marriage Over - Divorce Rumors Confirmed"
National Enquirer
"Profile: Tiger Woods - Golfer & Television Personality"
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/tiger-woods-sex-addict/story?id=9295425
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/01/19/2010-01-19_tiger_woods_sex_scandal_golfer_being_treated_for_sex_addiction_at_mississippi_re.html
http://www.etonline.com/poll/2009/12/81640/index.html
"More Tiger Woods News and Speculation - the High Price of Infidelity"
"Brit Hume on Tiger Woods and Christianity"

Related:
"Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren Go Separate Ways"
"Does Tiger Woods Want a Quickie Divorce?"