From religion to porn, Professor Kenneth Pargament has studied psychology for very different things.

“I started with a degree in the psychology of religion, but through twists and turns I ended up becoming interested in the psychology of porn through the spiritual dimension,” Pargament said.

Along with a group of graduate students, Pargament has been working on an online program for two years called “The Gateway Program.” The purpose is to help people who feel that they are addicted to porn and provide them with a way to end the addiction.

Pargament presented with two of his graduate students this Wednesday night about the Gateway Program.

“The unique thing about the Gateway Program is that we incorporate the spiritual dimension into the recovery,” Pargament said. “Looking at the spiritual side helps with many people who feel porn is impeding their relationship with God.”

Pargament discovered his interest in the subject when he was approached by a priest with a problem.

“He had been caught masturbating in his office while looking at porn,” Pargament said. “He was struggling with his relationship with God and his addiction to porn.”

Margaret Feuille, a graduate student, is part of the group helping Pargament develop the Gateway Program. She was in charge of one of the several sections for the program called, “What if I mess up?” The section is about what to do if you relapse and to understand that mistakes happen in the road to recovery.

“He was my adviser,” Feuille said. “I have been working with him for four years.”

The group had already developed version one of the Gateway Program. They submitted it to a company on campus that evaluated the quality of the program.

“The biggest problem that they said with the program was that it was boring,” Pargament said. “They said the content was good, but they fell asleep watching it.”

Feuille struggled with how to make her section more entertaining for her audience.

“Being a graduate student, you aren’t used to thinking about how to make things sound fun,” Feuille said.

Senior Andrea Hochstetler attended the event and was surprised by what Pargament spoke about.

“The spiritual aspect was one I have never thought of before when it comes to porn,” Hochstetler said. “I hope version two goes better for the team.”

Pargament said he hopes to be adding videos and animations to the program to make it more stimulating.

“Having other people act out skits will probably be more helpful than reading pages of information,” Pargament said. “We need to stimulate the people who are used to being stimulated.”