To find a porn addiction therapist or counselor, you do not need a clinic with “porn addiction” in its name. Look for a licensed or registered mental health professional, such as a psychologist, psychotherapist, counsellor or sex therapist, who has experience with sexual concerns and compulsive habits, and who treats you with respect rather than judgement. Check their registration, ask a few direct questions, and treat the first session as a chance to see whether they fit you.
This page is the practical part: who to look for, how to check them, what it costs, free groups and what to expect. For which treatments work, including medication, see porn addiction treatment and what the evidence shows. If you are not sure your use is a problem at all, the signs of porn addiction are a better first read.
Who can help with porn use?
Several kinds of professionals work with it, and the right one depends on what else is going on:
- Psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors can work on the habit itself and on what drives it, such as stress, loneliness, anxiety or shame. Ask whether they have worked with compulsive sexual behaviour or problematic porn use.
- Sex therapists or psychosexual therapists are a good fit when sexual function is part of the picture: erections, desire, finishing, or sex with a partner.
- Couples or relationship therapists help when porn has become a source of conflict, secrecy or broken trust.
- Your GP or a psychiatrist matters when there is depression, anxiety, ADHD, alcohol or drug use, or thoughts of self-harm. Some people need treatment for those alongside therapy.
The NHS advises that counsellors and psychotherapists should be members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), and sex therapists members of the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT) or the Institute of Psychosexual Medicine. NHS guidance.
What is a CSAT therapist?
CSAT stands for Certified Sex Addiction Therapist. It is a certification founded by Patrick Carnes, built on his addiction-based approach, including the “30 Task Model”. The CSAT programme. You will see it everywhere if you search “porn addiction therapist near me”.
A CSAT can be a good fit, especially if an addiction and recovery framework makes sense to you. Keep its limits in view:
- It is additional training, not a licence. Check the person’s underlying professional licence or registration separately.
- The addiction model is one view among several. A 2020 review of 25 years of research found much of the work on compulsive sexual behaviour methodologically simple and found almost no high-quality treatment research. Read the review.
- The WHO’s ICD-11 classifies compulsive sexual behaviour disorder as an impulse-control disorder, not an addiction, and says distress that comes only from moral judgments about sex is not enough for the diagnosis. Read the paper. A good therapist of any background should be able to tell loss of control apart from guilt about something you otherwise control.
How to find a porn addiction therapist near you
In the US, start with your insurer’s list of in-network therapists, then filter online therapist directories by “sex therapy” or “sexual addiction” and your state. The American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists keeps a referral directory of certified sex therapists. Check that the person is licensed in your state, for example as a psychologist, LPC, LMFT or LCSW.
In the UK, your GP can refer you, although the NHS warns that counselling and sex therapy services can involve a long wait. For anxiety or depression you can refer yourself to NHS talking therapies without seeing a GP if you are registered with one. Privately, COSRT and BACP have directories, and you can check whether a practitioner is on an accredited register with the Professional Standards Authority.
Online sessions widen the choice considerably, as long as the therapist is licensed or registered where you live.
What does it cost?
Prices vary widely by country, city and profession, so ask before you book. A few ways to lower the cost:
- Insurance (US). Ask your insurer what mental health cover you have, and ask the therapist whether they are in network or can give you a receipt for out-of-network claims.
- Sliding scales. Many private therapists keep a few lower-fee places.
- Training clinics. University clinics and training institutes often offer supervised therapy at lower rates.
- NHS routes (UK). Free, but often with waiting lists. Private sessions or a charity service can bridge the wait.
Be wary of anyone who asks you to pay for a long, expensive package before they have even assessed you.
What happens in the first session?
The first session is usually an assessment. Expect questions about when your porn use started, what it looks like now, what you have tried, and how it affects your mood, sleep, work, relationships and sex life. You may be asked about alcohol, drugs and mental health, and what you want to change. “I’m not sure yet” is an acceptable answer.
The therapist should explain confidentiality and its limits, which usually cover serious risk to you or to someone else. You can ask questions too, and you can decide afterwards that they are not the right fit.
Many people put this off for a long time. Lucas writes that he meant to see a psychiatrist during a severe depression, “but I didn’t go. I decided I had to handle it myself.” (Content warning: depression, severe anxiety and alcohol use.) Ryan, 32, describes seeing a sexologist about short-lived erections, and then having to rethink treatment when his blood pressure rose. Neither story is a guide, but both show that the first appointment is a beginning, not a final answer.
Questions to ask before you book
- How do you understand porn problems: as an addiction, a habit, a way of coping, or something else?
- What would you do if my distress is mostly about my values or faith, rather than loss of control?
- Are you comfortable working with my sexual orientation, relationship or interests without judging them?
- Do you work with partners, if I want that later?
- What happens if I slip between sessions?
Red flags
- Shaming or moralising. You should leave sessions feeling understood, not lectured.
- Treating your orientation or gender identity as the problem. More than 25 UK health and therapy organisations have signed a memorandum calling conversion therapy unethical, potentially harmful and unsupported by evidence. Read the memorandum. Walk away from anyone who offers to change who you are attracted to.
- Guarantees. Promised cure rates, fixed recovery timelines or “rewire your brain in 90 days”.
- Pressure to buy. Expensive intensives or residential stays sold before a proper assessment.
- No verifiable licence or registration.
Free options: Porn Addicts Anonymous, SAA and support groups
If therapy is out of reach for now, or you want something alongside it, peer groups are free. They are run by members, not clinicians, so they are support rather than therapy, and they differ a lot.
- Porn Addicts Anonymous (PAA) is a twelve-step fellowship focused on pornography. It says the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using pornography, and there are no fees or dues. PAA.
- Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA) asks each member to define their own abstinence, often using its “Three Circles” tool. SAA on sobriety.
- Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) has a fixed definition: for married members, no sex with oneself or with anyone other than a spouse, in a marriage between a man and a woman, and for unmarried members, no sex of any kind. SA’s definition.
That is the main difference between SA and SAA, and it matters: choose a group whose definition matches your own goals and values. Research on these groups is thin. In a survey of 97 men in Sexaholics Anonymous, those further along in the twelve steps reported less helplessness and higher wellbeing, but a single snapshot cannot show that the programme caused the difference. Efrati and Gola.
If a group leaves you feeling more ashamed than supported, or treats your orientation as the problem, try another one or step back.
Is there a porn addiction hotline?
There is no official national helpline for porn use in the US or the UK. Many numbers in search results belong to treatment centres, general referral services or peer fellowships. If you call one, ask who is answering: a licensed clinician, a sales team, or a volunteer in recovery.
If your worry is that your tastes have drifted, porn getting more extreme covers what that does and doesn’t mean.
If what worries you includes sexual thoughts about children or viewing images of children, confidential help is available before anyone is harmed: Stop It Now in the UK (0808 1000 900) and the US.
If you feel hopeless or are thinking about harming yourself, call 999 in the UK or 988 in the US, or Samaritans on 116 123.
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