Is there a cure for balloon fetishism ?
It is possible to change the sexuality of someone - but in the case of fetishism
it is unlikely to be easy, and there are a number of questions that need to
be asked first, and
even if the answers indicate that therapy should go ahead there will always be
aspects of the process that will remain uncertain - both therapist and subject
should appreciate that there can be no guarantees of any particular outcome.
I use the word 'outcome' rather than 'success' because of the kind of therapy that
would, almost inevitably, be involved.
There may be several styles of therapist who might be willing to attempt to effect
such a change in an person, however the therapy most likely to have any real chance
of positive and meaningful results will be based on Neuro Linguistic Programming
better known by its initials - NLP. One aspect of NLP is that it looks to cause
a change and then to examine the change that has been made without
necessarily classifying that change as a success or a failure.
The first question that must be answered before therapy is considered is about
'side effects' - if we are talking about changing a sexuality which has been
in existence for some time, then there may be so many aspects of that person's
emotional life which are linked to that sexuality, that to destroy a dimension
of sexuality may also damage areas of life that would be detrimental to that
person. Where a sexual mode has been firmly in place for more than a year then
in my opinion one should proceed very cautiously or not at all. The only time
I would entirely recommend therapy is where the fetish has only just begun.
Quite a few people who have the fetish have, at some time, consulted a therapist
of some kind and most have been disappointed by the fruitlessness
of the experience. There are two
common types of failure - the therapist may ignore
the powerful imprinting that can occur at
the very first orgasm and try to persuade the subject to change behavior little
by little - which may meet with some success, or 'intelligent' guesses may be
made using just one or a few aspects of the problem as presented - which is
normally, and quite correctly rejected by the subject.
Most fetishists accept that they are different and try to make the best of
life. Practically all levels of 'normality' are represented from those who
chose to almost ignore their feelings to the extent that they may not even tell
their spouse about their liking for balloons, to those who
would never consider a relationship with anyone
other that someone with a similar fetish. The vast majority in the second group
are usually unsuccessful, and will often moderate their ambitions in order to
fulfil other fundamental drives such as the need to procreate, the need for
companionship, and all the benefits of being part of a team - even when it is only
a team of two.
Often central to this acceptance is a rejection of any idea of therapy - the idea
that life will be ok if common sense is applied to everything including any
circumstances which involve the fetish. Within this process, the fetish has the
same status as most other things that can ( be allowed ) to make or break
a relationship.
The lack of therapists who have sufficient understanding of the nature and
extent of this fetish, and the difficulties involved in finding a suitable
therapist ( and defining suitability with any degree of certainty ) all
conspires to give the impression that successful therapy is a more
difficult route than working things out independently - and by and large I
would consider this to be true.
The power of faith should never be dismissed - the psycho-sciences do not
have all the brightest crayons ( nor do I wish to imply that they are totally
and irretrievably inept ) - the elegant, sometimes very
beautiful processes that NLP uses can compare closely to the changes that can
also happen as a result of purposeful prayer. If this concept is not one that
you would even consider then bear in mind that to
criticise things we know little or nothing about is
entirely illogical, and if you are of a mind to criticise the act of prayer then
I can assure you that you have far too little knowledge about the subject to have
any valid opinion about it. In many ways, the only meaningful question we should
ask about any process which is meant to be therapeutic or healing or even
simply beneficial is... 'Does it work ? '
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