Who We Are
Dan Ellenberg, M.A., NCC, LPCC KY), Coach
Living Rivers was created to help people just like you. People who feel stuck in the grasp of addiction or trauma or other weights that life can place on us. My heart is to help men across the nation be set free from porn addiction and other forms of sexual addiction (or problematic sexual behaviors if you don’t like labeling it as addiction). I had my own struggles with porn and, unfortunately, I didn’t find a lot of effective help in my journey to freedom. That’s why I have set out to create a new, innovative, and effective approach to helping men overcome sexual addiction.
What’s the difference between coaching and counseling?
Coaching is a professional service designed to help you through a specific problem or help you reach a specific goal. Coaching can be specific to financial, professional, or relational goals. In this case, we specialize in coaching men to become free from problematic sexual behaviors including porn addiction, sexual addiction, chronic affairs, compulsive lying, and other issues associated with problematic sexual behaviors.
Counseling is more general but also requires more training. Counseling is done by someone who at least has a master’s degree and a significant amount of experiential training in a clinical setting. Counseling is intended for more intense mental health issues like depression, anxiety, OCD, Bipolar Disorder, eating disorders, etc.
Sexual addiction in any form is not yet recognized in the DSM (the American standard for diagnosing mental health disorders). Therefore, it is not yet recognized as a mental health disorder requiring a higher level of training and education to address. This allows coaching to be a useful avenue to help men get help with this issue.
For those struggling with co-occurring issues like depression or mood disorders, it is highly suggested that you seek professional counseling and possibly psychiatric care from someone in your area, in addition to coaching.