The Niagara Centre for
Healing & Recovery

Cross addiction, also known as addiction transfer, occurs when individuals move from one compulsive behavior to another—such as substance use, porn addiction, sex addiction, compulsive eating, gambling, or work addiction—as an unconscious attempt to regulate unresolved trauma, emotional pain, or nervous system dysregulation.

 

Without addressing the underlying drivers, recovery efforts can unintentionally reinforce new addictive patterns. By targeting the shared emotional, relational, and nervous system roots beneath all compulsive behaviors, therapy interrupts cycles of addiction transfer, restores self-regulation and agency, and supports sustainable, long-term recovery across all forms of addiction.