“As a pastor in the 1980s I was exposed to heartbreaking stories of marriages traumatized by pornography. I confess, I wasn’t especially competent to counsel. Then came the internet, followed by social media and the tragedy has grown exponentially. But where sin abounds, grace abounds the more. Today Dr. Peter Kleponis has a word and a way of hope for couples whose marriages have been damaged to the breaking point by pornography. Peter charts the damage, examines criteria to determine addiction, highlights the trauma of betrayal, dealing with slips and the reality that intimacy can be restored. If there is a more thorough, more hopeful book on this tragically relevant problem, I don’t know it. If your church offers Bible studies, it also needs to offer help and healing to couples wounded by pornography. Every pastoral and small group leader should know this book. Every church should have it available for members with a simple phone call to the pastor. Thank God that no disease runs so deep that He doesn’t run deeper still.”
— Al Kresta, President and CEO of Ave Maria radio, radio host, author
“Restoring Trust provides all the necessary tools, truth, and hope that, if applied, will overcome the ravages of pornography and restore married couples to the heights of joy and true intimacy He always intended for them.”
— Jim and Joy Pinto, Co-Hosts of EWTN’s At Home with Jim and Joy
“Dr. Kleponis’ groundbreaking book not only addresses the effects of pornography addiction on Catholic marriages, it also identifies the root causes of addiction and what individual spouses and couples can do to recover and restore their marriages. Incorporating Catholic spirituality into the healing process can make recovery even more successful for couples. This book is a must-read for any Catholic couple that is struggling with pornography addiction.”
— Dr. Richard P. Fitzgibbons, M.D., Director of the Institute for Marital Healing
“Dr. Peter Kleponis continues to light the way to healing and forgiveness with this important new book. In Restoring Trust: A Couple’s Guide to Getting Past Porn, Dr. Kleponis explains the critical role of faith, combined with sound, science-based therapeutic guidance, to help couples emerge fully restored from addiction to pornography and forever strengthened.”
— Wendy Weise, Relevant Catholic Radio
“Relationships between spouses are being torn apart every day by the thousands because of pornography addiction, and this book will aid couples in addressing this problem and getting the help they so desperately need. The content is great, the stories are compelling, and I highly recommend that every married or engaged couple add this to their relationship inventory. Even if you don’t have this problem. someone you know and care about does. This is a resource that needs to be shared far and wide!”
— Jim O’Day, Executive Director of Integrity Restored
“Restoring Trust provides couples a solid understanding of the steps they can take to healing their marriage. What a great resource for couples seeking to understand and heal after the discovery of pornography addiction. This book provides valuable insight into the healing and recovery process for both partners.”
—Dr. Kevin Skinner, cofounder and clinical director of Addo Recovery, cofounder of Bloomforwomen.com
“This is a book everyone should read. We are all either addicted to pornography or at risk for becoming addicted. Although Peter Kleponis has specialized in counseling Catholic men and women, this is not a book for Catholics only. As Dr. Kleponis reports, over 50 percent of married men and a surprising percent of married women watch porn. And porn plays a role in over 50 percent of divorces. But spouses can be healed and marriages can be restored, and Dr. Kleponis carefully leads us through the healing process.”
— John E. Fitzgerald, Director of the St. Augustine Foundation
“While we are floating in ‘self-help’ guides to overcoming pornography addiction, very little is being offered to mend the broken relationships left in the wake of the worst epidemic in America. Finally, a comprehensive guide from one of the greatest authorities on the topic, and a way forward for those couples who are willing to take the narrow road to freedom.”
— James Baxter, Executive Director, Exodus 90 and ThoseCatholicMen.com
“A resource for navigating the traumatic experience of a spouse’s betrayal of trust due to porn addiction is so needed today! I have walked with so many pornography addicted men and had countless discussions with women about how to restore their trust with their husband during the painful process of intervention and recovery. Dr. Peter Kleponis’s book Restoring Trust: A Couple’s Guide to Getting Past Porn is now at the top of my list for recommendations to these couples.”
— Mark Houck, Founder and President, The King’s Men, Inc.
“Marriage, the very heart of society, is under attack by many forces. Spousal pornography addiction is increasingly one those primary forces. Dr. Peter Kleponis’ new book Restoring Trust: A Couple’s Guide to Getting Past Porn is an essential blueprint for those couples seeking marital healing. Diagnosing the problem, explaining the challenges, and offering proven approaches for successfully addressing this issue, Dr. Kleponis puts decades of marital counseling and treatment strategies in this marriage-saving book. Restoring Trust provides both spouses with much needed hope. Don’t suffer through another day without this roadmap to reconciliation and marital healing.”
— Dan Spencer, author of Every Parent’s Battle: A Family Guide to Resisting Pornography
“In culling his cumulative and extensive experience in the treatment of pornography addiction, Dr. Peter Kleponis has produced a valuable and practical work that will give hope to those afflicted and their loved ones. In moving from understanding how the addiction oppresses both men and women, to its faith-based treatment, the author accompanies the reader through the various stages of discovery, recovery and restoration. With the exponential growth in the use of pornography in our culture, this timely book exposes the widespread problem of pornography, while offering effective ways of recovery.”
— Fr. Charles Sikorsky, L.C., J.D., President, Divine Mercy University
“Where does a faithful Catholic couple turn for help when faced with the devastating disease of sexual or pornography addiction? Men and women each experience a unique shame, guilt, betrayal, hurt and helplessness that demands to be expressed, understood, respected, heard, and ultimately healed to restore trust. Dr. Kleponis’ deep Catholic faith and years of research and counseling make him uniquely qualified to marry the deepest truths of the human person with the most recent discoveries of neurobiology, endocrinology, and behavioral therapy — giving birth to a remarkably comprehensive and effective plan for healing and wholeness that avoids the usual traps of hyper-spiritualization and over-psychologizing. Perhaps the greatest gift of this book, however, is the hope that it will bring you, your spouse, and your marriage. This book will restore faith, hope, love, and joy to the lives of many good men and women. I am deeply grateful to offer it as a resource.”
— Damon Owens, Founder, joytob.org, and former executive director, Theology of the Body Institute
Restoring Trust
Restoring Trust
A Couple’s Guide to Getting Past Porn
Peter C. Kleponis, Ph.D., SATP, CSAT-C
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Huntington, Indiana 46750
Except where noted, the Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the