Common Questions about Sex Addiction Therapy
If you're considering therapy, it's normal to have questions about what treatment looks like, whether your concerns are something therapy can help with, and what to expect when getting started.
Below are answers to common questions about sex and pornography addiction treatment, betrayal trauma, infidelity recovery, intimacy concerns, couples therapy, fees, and online therapy with Jeremy Larson, LMFT, LPCC, CSAT.
Getting Started
What issues do you specialize in?
My practice focuses on working with adults and couples experiencing concerns related to sex addiction, compulsive sexual behavior, problematic pornography use, betrayal trauma, infidelity, intimacy difficulties, and relationship disconnection.
Treatment may also address concerns that occur alongside these difficulties, including anxiety, shame, attachment patterns, emotional regulation, relationship conflict, and difficulty developing or maintaining healthy intimacy.
Learn more about my background and treatment philosophy.
Learn more about how I approach therapy.
How do I know if therapy is right for me?
You don't need to know exactly what is happening before contacting a therapist.
People often begin therapy because they recognize that a behavior, relationship pattern, emotional response, or sexual concern is causing distress or interfering with the life or relationship they want.
You might have repeatedly tried to change something on your own, experienced consequences from a behavior, discovered something about your partner that has changed your sense of safety, or simply feel that something in your life or relationship isn't working.
An initial consultation can help determine whether my experience and approach are appropriate for what you're experiencing.
What happens when I contact you?
The first step is reaching out through my Contact page.
We can discuss what is bringing you to therapy, what you're hoping to change, current availability, fees or insurance questions, and whether my areas of specialization appear appropriate for your needs.
If it seems like we may be a good fit, we can discuss the next steps for beginning therapy.
Do I need to live near Cerritos to receive therapy?
No. Although my practice is based in Cerritos, California, I provide online psychotherapy to eligible individuals and couples throughout California. You do not need to live in Cerritos, Los Angeles County, or Orange County to work with me.
Through secure telehealth sessions, I provide specialized treatment for sex addiction, pornography addiction, betrayal trauma, intimacy difficulties, and related mental health concerns.
You must be physically located in California at the time of your therapy sessions, unless I am separately authorized to provide services in another jurisdiction.
Sex Addiction & Compulsive Sexual Behavior
How do I know if I have a problem with sexual behavior?
The frequency of sexual behavior alone doesn't necessarily determine whether someone has a problem.
More useful questions include whether you repeatedly feel unable to control a behavior, have made unsuccessful attempts to stop or reduce it, continue despite significant consequences, hide or lie about the behavior, or find that sexual behavior is interfering with relationships, responsibilities, values, or emotional well-being.
Therapy can help you examine the pattern without requiring you to diagnose yourself before seeking help.
Is sex addiction the same as having a high sex drive?
Not necessarily.
Someone can have a strong interest in sex without experiencing problematic or compulsive sexual behavior. Treatment is generally more concerned with the person's relationship with the behavior than simply how frequently sexual activity occurs.
Loss of control, repeated unsuccessful attempts to change, secrecy, significant distress, escalating behavior, consequences, and continuing despite harm may be more meaningful indicators that something needs attention.
What happens in sex addiction therapy?
Treatment is individualized, but therapy may involve identifying behavioral patterns and triggers, developing strategies for managing urges, understanding the function that sexual behavior has served, improving emotional regulation, addressing shame, exploring attachment and intimacy patterns, and developing relapse-prevention strategies. Learn more about Sex Addiction Therapy.
Over time, treatment can move beyond simply asking, "How do I stop?" toward understanding how to build a healthier relationship with yourself, sexuality, intimacy, and other people.
Does recovery mean giving up sex completely?
Not necessarily.
The goal of treatment isn't automatically lifelong abstinence from healthy sexuality. Recovery plans should consider the individual, the behaviors creating problems, relationship agreements, personal values, and treatment goals.
For some people, an initial period of abstinence from particular problematic behaviors may be useful. Longer-term work can include developing a healthier understanding of sexuality, intimacy, boundaries, and relationships.
What is a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT)?
A Certified Sex Addiction Therapist, or CSAT, is a therapist/counselor who has completed specialized training related to the assessment and treatment of problematic and compulsive sexual behaviors.
As a CSAT, my work may include helping clients understand patterns of sexual behavior, triggers, urges, emotional regulation, relapse prevention, attachment and intimacy difficulties, shame, secrecy, and the impact that sexual behaviors may have had on relationships.
Treatment isn't simply about stopping behavior. An important part of recovery can involve understanding what has maintained the behavior and developing healthier ways of responding to emotions, relationships, stress, and sexuality. Learn more about Sex Addiction Therapy.
Pornography Addiction
Can pornography use become compulsive?
For some people, pornography use can develop into a repetitive pattern that feels increasingly difficult to control.
A person might spend more time viewing pornography than intended, repeatedly attempt to stop, use pornography to manage uncomfortable emotions, experience escalation in content or frequency, hide their behavior, or continue despite consequences in relationships, work, sexual functioning, or other areas of life.
Therapy can focus on understanding the pattern rather than simply relying on willpower to stop it. Learn more about Porn Addiction Therapy.
Why can't I just stop watching pornography?
Repeated pornography use can become connected to routines, emotional states, stress, loneliness, boredom, anxiety, avoidance, sexual arousal patterns, and learned coping strategies.
That can help explain why simply deciding to stop isn't always enough.
Therapy can help identify what happens before, during, and after pornography use so that you can recognize triggers, interrupt automatic patterns, develop alternative coping strategies, and address underlying emotional or relational concerns.
Can pornography affect intimacy or sexual relationships?
It can for some individuals and couples.
Problematic pornography use may become associated with secrecy, relationship conflict, differences in expectations around sexuality, emotional disconnection, sexual performance concerns, or difficulties with partnered intimacy.
The specific impact varies considerably from person to person. Therapy provides an opportunity to examine your individual experience rather than assuming pornography affects everyone in the same way. Learn more about Porn Addiction Therapy and Intimacy Disorders.
Betrayal Trauma & Infidelity
What is betrayal trauma?
Betrayal can significantly disrupt a person's sense of emotional safety and trust.
After discovering infidelity, secret sexual behavior, pornography use, or other significant deception, a partner may experience intense emotional reactions, intrusive thoughts, difficulty concentrating, hypervigilance, anger, grief, confusion, or a strong need to understand what happened.
Therapy can provide a structured place to process these reactions, establish boundaries, regain stability, and determine what healing looks like for you.
Learn more about Betrayal Trauma & Infidelity Recovery.
Do you work with betrayed partners?
Yes.
A betrayed partner's treatment should not simply revolve around the person who engaged in the problematic behavior.
Individual therapy can focus on your experience of the betrayal, emotional safety, boundaries, grief, anger, uncertainty, self-trust, and determining what you need moving forward.
You don't have to decide immediately whether the relationship will continue in order to begin working on your own healing.
Can a relationship recover after infidelity or sex addiction?
Some couples choose to work toward repairing their relationship after betrayal, while others ultimately make different decisions about their relationship.
When couples pursue repair, therapy may address accountability, boundaries, communication, emotional safety, trust, the impact of betrayal, and gradually rebuilding intimacy.
Repair generally takes time, and the needs of the betrayed partner and the partner working on behavioral change may differ throughout the process.
Why does my partner keep asking the same questions?
After betrayal, repeated questions can sometimes be part of an effort to understand what happened and restore a sense of reality and safety.
At the same time, repeatedly revisiting information can become emotionally exhausting for both partners.
Therapy can help couples distinguish between information that may be important for healing and patterns of questioning that are no longer providing greater clarity or safety. The goal isn't simply to stop questions, but to develop a healthier and more structured way of addressing uncertainty, accountability, and reassurance. Learn more about Betrayal Trauma & Infidelity Recovery.
Intimacy & Relationships
What is an intimacy disorder?
Intimacy difficulties can involve more than sexual functioning.
A person may struggle with emotional vulnerability, trust, closeness, affection, communication, sexuality, receiving care, expressing needs, or allowing another person to know them deeply.
Sometimes sexual behavior can create the appearance of closeness while actually helping someone avoid emotional vulnerability.
Therapy can explore how attachment, past experiences, beliefs, coping strategies, shame, sexuality, and relationship patterns may be influencing your ability to experience healthy intimacy.
Learn more about Intimacy Disorders.
Do you provide couples therapy?
Yes. I work with couples experiencing concerns that can include betrayal, infidelity, sexual behavior concerns, intimacy difficulties, communication problems, relationship disconnection, and rebuilding trust.
Couples therapy is tailored to the needs and circumstances of the relationship rather than assuming every couple should have the same goal.
Learn more about my Therapy Approach.
Therapy, Fees & Telehealth
Do you offer online therapy?
Yes. Telehealth therapy is available for appropriate clients located in California.
Online therapy can allow clients to participate from a private location without traveling to an office and can make specialized treatment more accessible to people who don't live near Cerritos.
Please contact me if you have questions about whether telehealth is appropriate for your circumstances.
Contact me now to find out more.
How much does therapy cost?
My standard fee is $200 for a 45-minute individual therapy session.
My standard fee is $250 for a 45-minute couples therapy session.
Fees may differ for other session lengths, assessments, specialized services, or administrative services. Insurance availability is limited and may vary depending on my current caseload and your specific insurance plan.
For additional information about payment, insurance, private-pay therapy, and out-of-network benefits, visit the Fees & Insurance page.
Find out more information on my Fees & Insurance page.
Do you accept insurance?
I maintain a limited number of appointments for clients using insurance, and availability for new insurance-based clients may vary.
If you're interested in using insurance, please contact me with your insurance information so we can determine whether I am currently accepting new clients through your plan.
Private-pay appointments may be available even when insurance-based appointments are not.
How long will I need therapy?
There isn't one predetermined length of treatment that is appropriate for everyone.
The length of therapy can depend on your goals, the concerns bringing you into treatment, the complexity and duration of those concerns, your progress, and whether treatment involves individual recovery, betrayal trauma, couples work, or other issues.
We can regularly evaluate your goals and progress together rather than assuming therapy must continue for a particular amount of time.
Is therapy confidential?
Confidentiality is an important part of psychotherapy.
There are circumstances in which therapists may be legally or ethically required to disclose information, as well as situations in which you may authorize information to be shared.
The specific limits of confidentiality and privacy practices will be reviewed as part of the informed-consent process before treatment begins.
Still Have Questions?
You don't need to determine on your own whether your experience qualifies as an addiction, betrayal trauma, or intimacy disorder before reaching out.
If you're struggling with sexual behavior, pornography use, betrayal, infidelity, intimacy, or relationship concerns, we can discuss what you're experiencing and whether my services are appropriate for your needs.
Ready to take the next step?
Contact Jeremy Larson, LMFT, LPCC, CSAT to ask about current availability or request an initial consultation.