NYC- Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has gone into therapy in the wake of the hooker scandal that swept him out of office, a Spitzer insider told The Post yesterday.
As part of the therapy, Spitzer will explore whether he has an addiction to sex, the source said.
The last time Spitzer was seen publicly was on Saturday, when he hopped behind the wheel of an SUV outside his Upper East Side building with his wife, Silda, two of their daughters, and their Wheaton terrier, James, and made a beeline to their weekend home in upstate Pine Plains.
A spokeswoman for Spitzer said yesterday he was still with his family there, but declined to comment on whatever therapy Spitzer had sought.
Spitzer formally stepped down on Monday after it became public that he was caught on a federal wiretap arranging a tryst with a $4,300-a-night call girl at a Washington hotel in February.
Since then, it has emerged he has had a jones for pricey professional girls going back as far as a decade, and hooked up with “Kristen” – the nom-de-sack of 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupre – several times prior to getting nabbed on tape, sources have said.
Experts say this type of behavior exhibits classic signs of sexual addiction.
“If it becomes an overwhelming urge to the detriment of your professional and familial relationships – if it starts to screw up your life – that is addictive behavior,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gardere, a clinical psychologist.
“Someone who displays this sort of behavior could be classified as having a sexual addiction.”
The randy politician’s penchant for ladies of the night came to the attention of federal prosecutors when they noticed several unusual financial transactions from Spitzer’s bank accounts.
Thinking it might be evidence of bribery, investigators from the US Attorney’s Office uncovered Spitzer’s involvement with a high-end sex ring called Emperors Club VIP.
Spitzer was one of 10 deep-pocketed johns caught on wiretaps arranging for trysts with top-dollar Emperors Club VIP hookers.
On March 6, investigators shut the ring down, busting four people who ran the operation.
Spitzer has not been charged with a crime, but federal prosecutors are continuing to follow the money trail to see if the fallen Democrat had used any campaign money to fund his sexcapades.
They are also investigating if he arranged any unnecessary out-of-state trips – ostensibly on government business – to rendezvous with call girls, and are looking into whether he violated banking laws by trying to obscure the nature of his transactions with Emperors.