About The Laurel Centre

The Laurel Centre is a specialist organisation providing help for Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder (CSBD) and sex and porn addiction therapy using a BioPsychoSocial approach. The centre also provides support for partners and training to counsellors and health professionals. The Laurel Centre is the UK’s largest provider of sex addiction & porn addiction therapy services. As an ever growing team, our therapists provide services around London and the rest of the UK, and our International Affiliates provide our evidence-based recovery courses in the Netherlands, Belgium and Singapore.

We believe that every human being is an individual with unique personal needs and circumstances. This means that all of our work is tailored to the needs of the individual client or couple who approaches our practice.We are committed to inclusion and treat all people with respect, regardless of age, ability, gender, sex (sexuality, sexual orientation/identity, biological sex), relationship (status, preference), race, culture, religion or belief.

Whether you define your problem as Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder (CSBD), Sex Addiction or Porn Addiction, or if you’re not sure if your behaviour is a problem, in the first instance we’ll offer you an appointment to discuss what has brought you to this point in your life. During that appointment we will help you to prioritise the support that you need, whether that’s exploring and understanding your sexuality, getting into recovery from sex, porn or love addiction or coping with the trauma of discovery of your partner’s compulsive behaviour, or managing the impact it has had on your couple relationship.

We believe that sex addiction and porn addiction, also referred to as CSBD (Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder) are a symptom. Sometimes a symptom of stress and anxiety or of depression or low self-esteem. For some the roots go back to childhood trauma. This means that however you choose to work with us, we will support you, not just in developing practical relapse prevention strategies, but also in overcoming the issues that have caused your addiction.  Furthermore, we will help you explore and understand your sexuality so you can enjoy a more positive and rewarding sex life.

In our work with partners we use a relational trauma model, which means we understand the pain you are experiencing and our focus is on helping you manage the pain and how you might move on from it, whether that’s remaining with your partner or alone.

All of the therapists who work for The Laurel Centre use an integrative model.  That means we will use the therapeutic approach that best suits you and your circumstances.  Most often we use a combination of psychoeducation, to help you understand what’s happening to you, psychodynamic therapy to help you explore underlying causes, psychosexual therapy to understand your sexuality and cognitive behavioural techniques to help you change unhelpful thinking patterns. We also use a wide range of practical behavioural therapy strategies to change behaviours.  For those experiencing trauma, or with a history of trauma, we also use a range of trauma therapy interventions including EMDR and IFS.

Some clients prefer to have individual counselling for sex addiction or porn addiction and others choose to join one of our recovery support group programmes.  Many choose a combination of both. We will not try and shoehorn you into one particular approach, but rather work with you to find out what will most quickly resolve your difficulties and help you move on with your life. The Laurel Centre are committed to confidentiality and ethical practice.  We view addiction through a BioPsychoSocial lens and use an evidence-based, sex positive, integrative approach.

The Laurel Centre operates an equal opportunity policy and as well as being an organisational member of BACP. Each of our therapists also hold affiliation with other professional bodies such as BACP, UKCP, AP and COSRT.