Partner & Spouse Support for Sex Addiction
Rebuilding Trust. Reclaiming Voice. Healing the Trauma of Compulsive Sexual Behaviour.
When a romantic partner reveals a sexual addiction, or when it’s discovered through secrecy, infidelity, or deception, the emotional impact can be devastating. For many, it feels like the ground has disappeared beneath them. The person you trusted most has broken that trust, and the fallout can affect every area of your life.
This experience is more than emotional pain, it’s a form of trauma known as betrayal trauma, recognised by therapists and organisations like the Association of Partners of Sex Addicts Anonymous Trauma Specialists (APSATS). Whether you're grappling with shock, PTSD symptoms, or the decision to stay or leave, your healing matters just as much as your addicted partner’s recovery.
At Addiction Therapist London, I offer confidential, high-quality therapy for partners of a sex addict. This isn’t about co-dependency or controlling someone else’s behaviour, it’s about your wellbeing, your emotional safety, and your right to heal. My service is specifically tailored for partner spouse support for sex addiction in a discreet and compassionate setting.
You Are Not Overreacting: Understanding Betrayal Trauma
Partners of sexual addicts often find themselves overwhelmed by a whirlwind of emotions. You may feel intense grief one moment, and numbness the next. Your mind may obsess over what happened and what it means.
These responses are not overreactions. They are symptoms of trauma.
Common reactions include:
- Shock, disbelief, and a sense of unreality
- Hypervigilance, anxiety, or panic attacks
- Rage, depression, or emotional collapse
- Sleep disturbances, appetite changes, or chronic fatigue
- Shame, humiliation, or self-doubt (“Was I not enough?”)
- Intrusive thoughts, mental replaying of disclosures or discoveries
- Difficulty trusting anyone including yourself
You may be asking:
- “Am I going crazy?”
- “How do I get past this?”
- “Is there support for partners of sex addicts that isn’t group-based or religious?”
Yes — and your healing is valid and necessary.
Who This Support Is For
I provide discreet, one-to-one relationship counselling for partners of sexual addicts in London’s Harley Street Medical Quarter, St Pauls in the City of London and internationally via online therapy, all in complete privacy.
This specialist service is for:
- Spouses or romantic partners of individuals with sex addiction or porn addiction
- People who have discovered infidelity, escorts, pornography, or compulsive sexual behaviour in their relationship
- Those whose addicted partner struggles with sexual activity outside of agreed relationship boundaries
- Individuals navigating whether to stay, separate, or rebuild
- Partners of public figures or high-profile clients, where confidentiality is paramount
- Those living with PTSD in partners of sex addicts, religious or cultural shame, or identity crisis
- Partners dealing with co-occurring substance abuse issues alongside sexual compulsivity
You don’t need to meet any criteria to seek help. If you feel lost, broken, confused, or simply need space to think clearly, you are in the right place.
How Therapy Helps: A Trauma-Informed Approach for a Betrayed Partner
Unlike outdated models that pathologize partners as “enablers,” modern therapy recognises that partners experience trauma, not dysfunction.
This therapy is:
- Focused on your experience, not your partner’s
- Grounded in trauma-informed care
- Designed to restore clarity, emotional safety, and personal agency
You may benefit from therapy if you want to:
- Understand sexual addiction, compulsive sexual behaviour disorder, and their impact on relationships
- Reclaim your boundaries, voice, and sense of self
- Stabilise your nervous system and reduce trauma symptoms
- Learn how to respond to gaslighting, manipulation, or emotional shutdowns
- Process grief, anger, and fear without shame
- Navigate disclosure, truth-telling, or separation with support
- Create a recovery plan for yourself, even if your partner is in treatment
In my professional opinion, partners deserve the same level of care and validation as those in addiction treatment. This isn’t secondary work, it’s central. My clients often say they feel like they’ve been hit by an emotional truck but are expected to keep functioning. Therapy offers a space to honour your reality, not minimise it.
Your recovery is not dependent on your partner’s progress. You deserve care because of what happened, not just as a support role.
Therapeutic Approaches Tailored to You
Each individual’s response to betrayal is unique. That’s why therapy is never one-size-fits-all.
Your bespoke care plan may include:
- Psychodynamic therapy to explore trust, attachment, and early sexual behaviour dynamics
- Psychoeducation on trauma, addiction cycles, and betrayal trauma theory
- Boundary work to define emotional, physical, and relational safety
- Gentle, trauma-informed grounding and body-awareness strategies to support nervous system regulation (not physical touch-based or somatic bodywork)
- Grief and identity support as you reprocess your reality
- Partner or couple sessions, where appropriate and safely facilitated
- Referral to specialist support groups if you wish
- Optional integration of Art Psychotherapy to process trauma non-verbally
Where clinically helpful and with your consent, I may collaborate with trusted psychiatrists, GPs, psychosexual therapists, or other specialists to ensure your care remains integrated, safe, and well-supported.
This is a space where you do not have to perform, fix, or manage anyone else’s emotions. It’s about you, your healing, your voice, your recovery.
What About PTSD in Partners of Sexual Addicts?
Many partners experience symptoms of PTSD or complex PTSD following the discovery of a sex addict’s behaviour. These may include:
- Intrusive thoughts
- Flashbacks to discovery or disclosure events
- Startle responses, dissociation, or chronic vigilance
- Cycles of blame, shame, and self-abandonment
- Emotional “numbing out” or shutting down
This is not a personal weakness it’s your body’s natural trauma response. Therapy helps you understand the biology of betrayal and gives you the tools to regain control of your emotional world.
Couples Work — Only If and When You Are Ready
Joint sessions are available where appropriate and always with consent and structure. These may focus on:
- Facilitated dialogue around accountability and amends
- Boundaries and emotional safety agreements
- Support through disclosure processes (if appropriate)
- Rebuilding emotional trust and communication
Couples therapy is never mandatory, and in many cases, it is not the first step. Your individual healing may need to come first.
Discreet Support for High-Profile and International Clients
If you are the spouse of a public figure, senior professional, or high-net-worth individual, you may be navigating additional layers of stress — image management, media exposure, or fear of public fallout.
You may be wondering:
- “Should I tell anyone?”
- “Do I have to tell their family or our children?”
- “How do I find help without risking exposure?”
My practice is rooted in absolute discretion, offering private, secure sessions both in person and through online therapy. Whether you're based in London, abroad, or travelling frequently, support remains available.
You Don’t Have to Carry This Alone
Search terms like:
- “Help for partners of sex addicts”
- “Counselling for partners of sex addicts UK”
- “Partners of sex addicts support group”
- “PTSD in partners of sex addicts”
- “Support for partners of a love addict”
…are becoming more common — because people like you are finally being seen.
This therapy is not a 12-step group, not religious, and not about fixing someone else. It’s about finding stability, voice, and clarity, whether you stay, go, or are still deciding.
Start Where You Are
Whether you’re feeling raw, shut down, furious, or frozen, it’s OK. You don’t need to have made any decisions yet. You only need a place to begin.
This is a confidential, specialist therapy service and not a crisis hotline, not a group, and not a generic counselling centre. It’s focused, private, and grounded in clinical care.
If you're ready to begin healing from betrayal trauma or simply need to talk through what’s happened. I invite you to reach out for a confidential, no-pressure 15-minute consultation.
Book a complimentary consultation or a private therapy session.