Review: "Naked Truth project"

The Naked Truth Project, nakedtruthproject.com, is a UK charity “committed to changing minds and changing lives through awareness, education and recovery programmes.” The website opens with a video of a powerful poem; this  beautifully depicts their goal to teach about the harmfulness of porn and provide a vision for life, human flourishing and restoration. Toward that end, they offer a variety of resources to help parents, spouses, teachers, schools and churches understand and address issues of pornography. While those are all valuable, this review will focus on the opportunities specifically for individuals who are actively struggling with pornography. 

Kick-starting recovery

The primary programme on offer is called Click to Kick. A small group of participants meet weekly with a trained facilitator on Zoom, to complete an 8-week course focusing on understanding addiction, positive sexuality and healthy lifestyles. The group discussions, as well as some assignments between meetings, encourage both personal application to those topics and developing tools towards change in one’s own thinking and behaviour. The material is well written, educates without sounding too academic and is thoughtfully and graciously related to the real lives of the participants. There are men’s and women’s groups. Overall, I would recommend this programme for someone looking to kick-start their recovery. 

Caveats

My main hesitation or caution stems from the lack of emphasis on faith and spiritual aspects of recovery. The organisation itself is created and run by Christians. They have the perspective that we are more than bodies and brains, but also are spiritual beings with souls; what we are yearning for is ultimately God and that prayer and spiritual components should play a role in recovery. However, they want their groups to be accessible to everyone, so therefore most references to faith-based subjects are mentioned more as an aside or in optional activities. My Click to Kick group was only comprised of Christians, so we did include discussion based around the gospel, but that’s not always the case. Also, they welcome LGBT+ people to these groups, without regard for creed or practice. While the focus is pornography, not sexual orientation, there is enough overlap of possible conversation that a TFT member might find it triggering or uncomfortable to be in a group with a sexually active gay person. 

Cost

Click to Kick is free with donation giving as an option. After completing that course, one who shows commitment to sexual sobriety has the option to join the Whole Life programme, which incurs a monthly fee (currently £50/month). Whole Life allows you to continue your recovery in community with ongoing support groups, encouragement and discussion for those who want to go deeper into recovery and restoration.

Online videos and resources

For someone not quite ready to jump into the Click to Kick programme, there is a free online video course called Ctrl-Alt-Del. This series of 28 short videos presents similar content as the Click to Kick programme, but more abbreviated and without the discussion and accountability. Still, the videos are engaging and informative and they do suggest some questions for reflection or resources for further study. This course also contains four optional videos about faith and the spiritual impact of porn and recovery. One of these describes two hindrances to holy living: forgetting who we are and whose we are and fracturing or compartmentalising our lives. These are good reminders for all believers, not just those who struggle with pornography. 

Benefits and drawbacks

Because it’s undertaken independently online, one can complete the course at one’s own pace. This can be beneficial for some, but could also be detrimental for those who would either rush through, without truly engaging with the material, or would take too long between videos and lose any momentum or retention of the contents. This course is designed for men and women. However, there is one video specifically for men, discussing the relationship between porn and erectile dysfunction. That is announced at the beginning of the video, so women can skip that video. I wish there was a similar video discussing things unique to women.
In addition to these courses, individual coaching and counselling is offered, as well as some in-person intensives and retreats. More information can be found on the website. 
 

This article was originally published in the Winter 2023 edition of the TFT magazine, Ascend. Click the button below to download your copy.