Sex Addiction Counselling in Glasgow and Online
If your sexual behaviour feels difficult to control, you do not have to face it alone. Nightingale offers confidential, compassionate sex addiction counselling for individuals and couples in Glasgow and online throughout the UK.
You may feel ashamed, frightened of being discovered or worried about the effect your behaviour is having on your relationship. Our role is not to judge you. We provide a private and supportive space where you can talk openly, understand what is happening and begin making meaningful changes.
Contact us for Sex Addiction counselling today.
To discuss arranging an appointment, call 0141 353 9373 or complete our confidential enquiry form.
What is sex addiction or compulsive sexual behaviour?
The term “sex addiction” is commonly used when sexual thoughts, urges or behaviours feel repetitive, difficult to control and harmful to everyday life. It may also be described as sexual compulsivity or compulsive sexual behaviour. It is not defined simply by how often someone thinks about or engages in sex. People have different levels of sexual desire. The concern is whether the behaviour feels out of control, continues despite negative consequences or causes significant distress.
Someone experiencing compulsive sexual behaviour may repeatedly try to stop or reduce the activity but find themselves returning to it. The behaviour can begin to affect their emotional wellbeing, finances, work, family life, intimate relationships or physical health.
Signs you may benefit from counselling
You may wish to seek support if:
- Sexual thoughts or urges occupy a significant amount of your time.
- You have repeatedly tried to stop but have been unable to.
- Your use of pornography feels compulsive or has escalated.
- You conceal sexual activity from your partner or family.
- Your behaviour is affecting your work, finances or responsibilities.
- You use sexual behaviour to escape stress, loneliness, anxiety or difficult emotions.
- You experience shame, guilt or distress afterwards.
- Your behaviour has created distance or conflict in your relationship.
- You are taking risks that could affect your health, safety or future.
- You feel that the behaviour no longer reflects your values or the life you want.
You do not need to identify with the label “sex addict” to ask for help. If your behaviour concerns you or is causing difficulties, counselling gives you an opportunity to explore it safely.
Behaviours we can help you explore
Compulsive sexual behaviour can take different forms, including:
- Compulsive pornography use
- Repeated use of sexual chat rooms, apps or online services
- Paying for sex
- Visiting massage parlours for sexual services
- Repeatedly seeking anonymous or casual sexual encounters
- Compulsive masturbation
- Sexual messaging or online sexual activity
- Repeated affairs or secret sexual relationships
- Risk-taking connected with sex
- Persistent preoccupation with sexual thoughts or activities
The behaviour itself does not automatically mean someone has an addiction. Your therapist will help you consider its context, impact and the amount of control you feel you have over it.
How sex addiction counselling can help
Counselling begins by developing a clearer understanding of your experiences. Your therapist may help you explore:
- Patterns, triggers and high-risk situations
- The emotions that occur before and after the behaviour
- Stress, anxiety, loneliness, trauma or low self-esteem
- The role of pornography or online sexual content
- Relationship and intimacy difficulties
- Ways of responding differently to urges
- Healthy boundaries and coping strategies
- Rebuilding a satisfying and responsible relationship with sex
- Relapse prevention and maintaining progress
Your treatment plan will be designed around your individual circumstances. Therapy is not intended to remove healthy sexuality from your life. Its purpose is to help you regain choice, reduce harmful behaviour and develop healthier relationships with sex, intimacy and yourself.
Jenna listened to what I was saying and steered me in helpful directions. She also gave me homework activities which helped me work towards my goals at my own pace. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her!
Contact Nightingale Counselling Today.
Porn addiction counselling
Internet pornography is private, immediate and readily accessible. For some people, occasional use develops into a repetitive pattern that feels increasingly difficult to manage.
You might notice that you are spending longer viewing pornography, seeking increasingly intense material or allowing it to interfere with sleep, work, relationships or partnered sex. Porn addiction counselling can help you recognise triggers, interrupt automatic patterns and address the emotional or relationship difficulties that may be maintaining the behaviour.
Support when your partner discovers the behaviour
Discovery can be deeply distressing for both partners. The partner who discovers secret sexual behaviour may experience shock, anger, betrayal, anxiety and a loss of trust. They may question the history of the relationship or wrongly blame themselves.
The person whose behaviour has been discovered may experience shame, panic, guilt or fear that the relationship will end. Where appropriate, we can provide couple counselling to help you:
- Talk about what has happened safely
- Understand the effect on both partners
- Establish appropriate boundaries
- Improve honesty and communication
- Address intimacy and sexual relationship difficulties
- Consider how trust might gradually be rebuilt
Couple sessions do not replace individual responsibility for harmful behaviour. Your therapist will recommend the most suitable combination of individual and couple work for your circumstances.
Specialist, non-judgemental support
Sexual compulsivity is a specialist area of therapeutic work. Our psychosexual therapist Jenna has extensive experience and specialist training in supporting individuals and couples affected by compulsive sexual behaviour.
You will be treated with dignity, sensitivity and respect. Although talking about sexual behaviour can initially feel embarrassing, your therapist is accustomed to discussing intimate and difficult subjects. Sessions provide a confidential space in which you can speak honestly and start working towards change.
Take the next step
Online sex addiction counselling throughout the UK. This specialist service is available online, allowing you to attend from a private place anywhere in the UK. Online therapy can be particularly helpful when you prefer additional privacy, live outside Glasgow or cannot find an appropriately trained specialist locally.
Sessions last just under an hour. Your therapist will discuss the recommended frequency and likely course of counselling during your initial appointment.
To arrange a confidential appointment, call 0141 353 9373 or complete our confidential enquiry form to ask about an appointment.
Sex Addiction Counselling FAQs
How do I know whether I have a sex addiction?
It is not determined simply by how often you have sex or think about it. Warning signs include feeling unable to control your behaviour, repeatedly failing to stop and continuing despite distress or harmful consequences.
Is compulsive sexual behaviour the same as having a high sex drive?
No. A high sex drive does not automatically indicate a problem. Counselling may be appropriate when behaviour feels out of control, conflicts with your values or negatively affects your wellbeing, relationship, work or responsibilities.
Can counselling help with porn addiction?
Yes. Counselling can help you identify the emotional and situational triggers behind compulsive pornography use, develop alternative coping strategies and address its effect on intimacy and relationships.
Will my therapist judge me?
No. Psychosexual therapists are trained to discuss sensitive sexual concerns professionally and respectfully. The purpose of counselling is to understand your experiences and help you make changes, not to shame or criticise you.
Can my partner attend counselling with me?
Yes, where couple sessions are considered suitable. Counselling can help both partners process the impact of discovery, establish boundaries, communicate more safely and consider how trust may be rebuilt.
Is sex addiction counselling confidential?
Counselling is confidential within the professional and legal limits explained by your therapist. You will have an opportunity to ask questions about confidentiality before beginning therapy.
Can I recover from compulsive sexual behaviour?
Many people learn to recognise their triggers, manage urges, change harmful patterns and develop healthier relationships with sex and intimacy. Progress varies, so your therapist will create a plan suited to your circumstances.
Do you provide online sex addiction counselling?
Yes. Nightingale offers confidential online counselling for clients throughout the UK, subject to therapist availability and an assessment of whether online work is appropriate.
How many sessions will I need?
There is no fixed number because the pattern, underlying difficulties and effect on relationships differ between clients. Your therapist will discuss a personalised treatment plan during your first sessions.
Can counselling help us rebuild trust after secret sexual behaviour?
Couple counselling can support honest communication, appropriate accountability and the gradual rebuilding of emotional and sexual trust. It cannot guarantee that a relationship will continue, but it can help both partners make informed decisions.
Online Counselling
Providing you with the tools you need to take the next step.
Technology is rapidly changing the ways we can interact with each other, and counselling is no exception. This
service can be provided upon request. For the below options you will need broadband/internet connection and
somewhere quiet and private you can speak without being overheard or interrupted. Your Counsellor will agree with
you what happens should the technology fail, but in all other respects the counselling relationship will be the same
as a ‘face to face’ one. The Counsellor will speak to you from a private room …
0141 353 9373
Mon-Fri 08.00 – 21.00
Sat 09.00 – 17.00
(out of hours at discretion of Counsellor)
5 La Belle Place,
Glasgow, G3 7LH
The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice,
20 Dumbreck Rd,
Glasgow, G41 5BW