Treatment for Compulsive Sexual Behaviours

'Sex Addiction' was coined in the 1980s' and is often used to pathologize sexuality, especially among gay men.

While this terminology may be the standard, it is not supported by current research or diagnostic frameworks. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Classification of Disease (ICD-11) currently identify this as:

Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder (CSBD), an Impulse Control Disorder, characterized by repetitive sexual behaviours, urges, or impulses that lead to significant distress or impairment.

While it is rare to fully meet the criteria for a formal diagnosis of CSBD you can still feel stuck in behaviours that feel difficult to manage or are out of alignment with your values. 

These patterns often have very little to do with sex. More often, these behaviours developed as a way to cope with pain, shame, loneliness, stress, trauma and overwhelm. Many people stay stuck in these cycles because of the ongoing impact of unresolved trauma and shame. 

There is nothing “wrong” with you for struggling. These patterns make sense in the context of what you’ve lived through. 

If this sounds like something you'd like to explore, I can provide a judgment free environment where we can bring curiosity and compassion to these behaviours, work to understand what may be fueling them, and how to make sustainable change.

Guided by up to date clinical research and expert consultation.  We may work on:

• Intake, assessment and collaborative planning
• Emotional regulation and impulse control
• Shame reduction and self-compassion
• Compulsivity, trauma and relational reprocessing
• Relationship and Sex Therapy
• Creating life worth living

Our work together will explore where these patterns come from and the experiences that give them their power. 

We’ll deepen your understanding of your sexual desires, needs, and behaviours while bringing compassion to the parts of you that seek relief, comfort, or connection.

We’ll take a closer look at your values, where they come from, and how beliefs, internal conflicts, or relational experiences may be contributing to feeling stuck. 

This is not an abstinence-based approach. I will not ask you to stop engaging in behaviours you’re struggling with, including masturbation. Instead, we focus on understanding human sexuality, creating realistic goals, increasing your sense of choice and agency, and developing other methods for self-soothing and emotional regulation.