Formicophilia, an unusual paraphilia, treated with counseling and behavior therapy

The case of a Buddhist man suffering from formicophilia, a rare paraphilia, is presented. Rather than aiming at the elimination of the sexual deviation, counseling and behavior therapy were applied to alleviate the patient's feelings of guilt and depression and improve his self-image. The 12-week therapy was successful in achieving these goals and in addition resulted in a dramatic reduction of the paraphilic behavior. Gains were maintained at one-year follow-up.