THE Uniting Church wants to train its leaders to identify and treat members with pornography addiction amid fears it is a growing problem among young people.

It has invited interstate psychologist, the Rev Dr Peter Powell, to speak to church leaders at an inaugural two-day seminar next month.



Regional and rural SA pastoral relations officer, the Rev Ashley Davis, says the church is "disappointed" that using pornography has become normal, particularly among high school students.



"We often get to see the broken relationships that using pornography brings about and so we want to do something that will help in prevention of addiction to porn and all the brokenness that that brings," he said.



Mr Davis said the Uniting Church also was concerned that the age of addicts was decreasing.



"It is not uncommon for young people to be ostracised because they don't use porn," he said.



"This will have a long-term detrimental effect upon how we see and value others."



The seminar is inspired by research suggesting addiction affects future relationships.



As well as teaching church leaders such as ministers and youth leaders how to identify and treat addiction, the seminar also will suggest such a condition can lead to criminal behaviour and negative effects on safety and the community.



"Constant viewing affects the brain, leading to addiction, devaluing the viewer and devaluing the relationships they have with the people around them," Mr Davis said.



Dr Powell works with sex offenders and is considered the Uniting Church's foremost practitioner on pornography addiction. He says finding a mentor is "critical".



"(They need) a person who will be available to talk and pray with the man and be there to help break the addiction," he said.



"There is sometimes a deep emptiness in men they need to fill. Pornography and other sexual deviations become a way of numbing the pain.



"Like alcohol and other drugs, pornography can develop into an addiction that is just as difficult to treat.



"Despite the amount of support ... many of the men I work with still feel loneliness and emptiness."