Porn and sex addiction
Porn and Sex Addiction Therapy
Compulsive porn or sex is rarely about sex. It is usually about what it switches off. Therapy gives you a private, unshockable place to understand it and change it. In Hove or by video.
In short
Porn and sex addiction therapy is confidential one-to-one counselling for sexual behaviour that feels out of control: porn, cybersex, hook-ups, paying for sex or affairs that keep happening. With me it means regular sessions in Hove or by video, working on the urge and on the loneliness, stress or shame it has been soothing.
How it takes hold
When it stops feeling like a choice
It often begins as a way to unwind or escape, and becomes something you do when stressed, bored, lonely or low. You might lose hours at night, take risks you would not otherwise take, find that real intimacy feels harder, or promise yourself each time that this is the last.
Shame tends to keep it going: the worse you feel, the more you need the relief, and the more you hide it. Therapy breaks that loop by bringing it into the open in a setting where nothing you say will shock or be judged.
The work is practical as well as reflective. My ten pillars exercise is one example of how we build new, automatic responses to the triggers.
What the work involves
How porn and sex addiction therapy works
Every person brings something different. These are the threads we usually follow.
Mapping the pattern
When, where and how the urge arrives, and what comes just before it. The cycle of addiction is a useful map.
What it is soothing
Stress, loneliness, low mood, old hurt or a relationship that feels out of reach. Changing the need changes the urge.
Practical boundaries
Filters, phone habits, routines at the hours that are hardest, and what to do in the minutes when the urge is strongest.
Partners and relationships
A partner who has found out may be hurt and confused too. Couples counselling can follow when you are both ready.
Peer support
Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous runs UK meetings that can sit beside therapy. S.L.A.A. UK.
Practical details
Who you'll see, where, and what it costs
Who you'll see
Bradley Riddell, BACP registered member no. 109340 (check the register), and UKCP student member in advanced psychotherapy training.
Regular clinical supervision. About me.
Where
In person at my room in Hove, or by secure video anywhere in the UK. Towns with their own page.
Fees
£80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120. The first 15-minute call is free, with no obligation.
First step
A free 15-minute call. You can describe it in general terms; nothing you say will shock me.
Book the free call or ring 07914 681995.
Questions
Porn and Sex Addiction Therapy: common questions
Is porn addiction a real problem?
Whatever it is called, if your use feels out of control and is costing you sleep, work, relationships or self-respect, it is worth getting help with. Therapy focuses on what it is doing in your life rather than on a label.
Will I have to go into detail?
Only as much as helps. We talk about patterns, triggers and feelings far more than specifics, and you decide what to share and when.
Can my partner come too?
Yes, when you are both ready. Many people start on their own, and a partner who has found out may want support of their own first. Couples sessions can follow.
Is it confidential?
Yes. What you say stays confidential within the BACP Ethical Framework, and I explain its few legal and safety limits at the start, so you know exactly where you stand.
How much does porn and sex addiction therapy cost?
£80 for a 60-minute session, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours. The first 15-minute call is free.
Further reading
Guides to read before or between sessions
If you need urgent help right now
Sessions are booked ahead, so for help right now these services answer straight away. If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, please call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. For free, confidential support at any hour, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, or text SHOUT to 85258.
If someone at home is hurting, threatening or controlling you, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free on 0808 2000 247, day or night.
Where I see people
In Hove, or by video anywhere in the UK
Sessions are in person at Intergen House, Western Road, Hove, or by secure video. Towns with their own page · Online counselling across the UK