Understanding Covert Incest: An Interview with Kenneth Adams
Robert Weiss LCSW, CSAT-S
Love and Sex in the Digital Age
Over the years, my psychotherapeutic work has been heavily influenced by several groundbreaking clinicians, one of whom is Dr. Kenneth Adams. Specifically, his books Silently Seduced: When Parents Make Their Children Partners (link is external) and When He’s Married to Mom: How to Help Mother-Enmeshed Men Open Their Hearts to True Love and Commitment (link is external) have furthered my understanding of intimacy disorders, in particular the ways in which early-life covert incest often creates a later-life inability to intimately attach in healthy ways — a phenomenon I’ve witnessed in a shockingly large percentage of my impulsively and/or compulsively sexual clients. I recently had an opportunity to speak with Dr. Adams about his pioneering work, and I am happy to share excerpts of our conversation with you here.