Confirmed: Tiger Woods in Treatment For Sex Addiction

A New York Times Magazine writer confirmed last night what rumors have suggested for days: that Tiger Woods is a patient at Gentle Path, a sex addiction program at Pine Grove, a private treatment center in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Benoit Denizet-Lewis, who has written extensively about his sex addiction, including his own, confirmed on his personal blog Monday that Woods is at the clinic.

In his book America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life, he notes that Gentle Path  "is directed by Patrick Carnes, one of the world's leading experts.

The official website for Pine Grove says that the Gentle Path program is "for those suffering from sexual addiction, relationship addiction and sexual anorexia."

Denizet-Lewis speculates Woods may have begun sex rehab treatment elsewhere - such as the Meadows treatment center in Arizona, where he was allegedly spotted.

What does sex addiction treatment entail, exactly? The reporter explains that the usual regimen includes group therapy sessions as well as family and couples therapy.

Tiger's wife, Elin Woods, has not been spotted at the facility, but that may change as his treatment progresses, at least according to the author's own experience.

"If Tiger and his wife, Elin, are serious about repairing their marriage," he writes on his blog, "then she will be spending some time in Hattiesburg with Tiger."

Another typical requirement: patients must sign a "celibacy contract" - a promise "not to have sex with anyone, or to masturbate, while in treatment."

In his book, Denizet-Lewis writes of other typical sex-clinic practices, including "empathy letters" for unfaithful married men and "cost letters" for their wives:

"Men who had repeatedly cheated on their wives had to write 'empathy letters' to them, which would never be sent but were read in group therapy sessions and usually criticized for not being nearly empathetic enough," he recalls.

On a similar note, sex addicts' wives "wrote their own, painful 'cost letters' - detailing how the sexual addiction had affected them - that were read to their husbands for the first time in group by another group member."

We expect Elin's will be a mile long - you could spend hours on just Rachel Uchitel. In all seriousness, we hope Tiger finds what he's looking for in rehab. He's obviously a troubled guy, and if Elin wants to give him a chance, that's her choice.

Will sex addiction treatment help Tiger Woods?