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Sex addiction treatment at Quest Wellness Center is structured outpatient care for compulsive sexual behavior, delivered through partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and outpatient programs. We use evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in a non-judgmental setting, treat the trauma, shame, and co-occurring conditions underneath the behavior, and support lasting change. Care is available in person or online. We accept most commercial PPO plans with out-of-network benefits.
Compulsive sexual behavior, often called sex addiction or hypersexuality, is a pattern of sexual thoughts, urges, or behaviors that feel out of control and continue despite causing real harm to a person’s life, relationships, or well-being. The World Health Organization recognizes it in the ICD-11 as Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder, an impulse-control condition, while it is not currently a formal diagnosis in the DSM-5, and clinicians treat it effectively using behavioral-addiction and impulse-control approaches. What defines it is not how much sex a person has or what kind, but the loss of control: the behavior is driven by compulsion rather than choice, often used to cope with stress or pain, and continued even when the person wants to stop and is hurt by the consequences. It is a real, treatable behavioral health condition, not a moral failing or a question of willpower, and treatment helps people regain control and address what drives the behavior.
Compulsive sexual behavior is marked by a loss of control over sexual urges and behavior, not by any particular activity. Common signs include recurrent, intense sexual thoughts or urges that feel impossible to control, spending excessive time consuming pornography or seeking sexual encounters, and using sexual behavior to escape stress, anxiety, loneliness, or other difficult feelings. Many people make repeated unsuccessful efforts to cut back or stop, continue despite serious consequences to relationships, work, health, or finances, and feel shame, guilt, or distress about the behavior afterward while still feeling unable to stop. Other signs include neglecting responsibilities or relationships, taking growing risks, and hiding the behavior from others. The defining feature is that the behavior is compulsive and causing harm, and the person feels unable to control it despite wanting to. When that pattern is present, it is a condition that responds to treatment.
Treatment for compulsive sexual behavior works best when it is free of shame and judgment, and that is how Quest approaches it. Shame is not a side issue here; it is often central, because many people have carried secrecy and self-blame for years, and shame tends to fuel the very cycle that treatment aims to interrupt. Our role is not to judge a person’s sexuality or impose a moral standard, but to help with a pattern of behavior the person themselves experiences as out of control and harmful. Treatment is inclusive and respects each person’s identity and values, distinguishing a healthy sex life from compulsive behavior by its effect on the person’s life, not by any external rule. Meeting people without judgment is not just a kindness, it is clinically necessary, because lowering shame is what makes honest work and real change possible.
Quest treats compulsive sexual behavior through a structured outpatient continuum, matching the intensity of care to how much the behavior is affecting daily life. Partial Hospitalization (PHP) is the most intensive level, with several hours of treatment on most weekdays, suited to people who need daily structure to interrupt the pattern and stabilize. Intensive Outpatient (IOP) steps down with fewer weekly hours while keeping strong clinical support. Outpatient (OP) is the lightest level, for maintaining progress over the longer term. Most people with compulsive sexual behavior are treated effectively in outpatient care while continuing to work and live at home, which also lets them practice new patterns in real life with support. Across every level, treatment combines individual therapy, group work, and attention to the trauma and co-occurring conditions underneath the behavior, and most clients step down through the levels as they regain control. Every level is available in person or through secure telehealth.
Compulsive sexual behavior rarely stands alone, so Quest treats it alongside the trauma and conditions that so often underlie it. Many people with compulsive sexual behavior have a history of trauma, including childhood abuse, and the behavior can become a way of coping with that unresolved pain. It also frequently co-occurs with depression, anxiety, substance use, and other compulsive behaviors, and these conditions feed each other. As a dual-diagnosis provider, Quest treats compulsive sexual behavior alongside any co-occurring mental health or substance use condition in one coordinated plan rather than separately. No medication is approved specifically for compulsive sexual behavior, but where a co-occurring condition like depression or anxiety is present, our psychiatrist can manage medication for that condition, which often reduces the distress that drives the behavior. Treating the behavior while leaving the trauma or depression underneath it untouched is a common reason change does not hold, which is why integrated, trauma-informed care is central to how Quest works.
Compulsive sexual behavior often damages relationships and trust, and repairing that is part of recovery at Quest. The secrecy that usually surrounds the behavior can deeply hurt partners and families, and betrayal and broken trust are frequently among the most painful consequences. Where appropriate and wanted, family or couples involvement helps partners understand the condition, process the impact, and decide together how to move forward, though the pace and shape of that work is set by what is healthy for everyone involved. For the individual, treatment focuses on honesty, accountability, and building a life and set of relationships that support recovery rather than secrecy. Rebuilding trust takes time and is not guaranteed, but treating the behavior as a condition to be addressed openly, rather than a secret to be hidden, is what makes genuine repair possible.
Quest’s treatment is for adults whose sexual thoughts or behaviors feel out of control and are harming their relationships, work, or well-being, but who do not need round-the-clock hospitalization. You can keep up with work and family while attending a structured program, and you return home at the end of each treatment day. People typically start here when they have tried to stop on their own and could not, when the behavior is causing serious harm or risk, when shame and secrecy have taken over, or when it is tangled up with trauma, depression, anxiety, or substance use. The right level, from PHP down to outpatient, is set during an assessment so the support matches how much the behavior is affecting you. The goal is not judgment but help regaining control and addressing what drives the behavior, in a setting built to be safe and confidential.
Quest Wellness Center accepts most commercial PPO plans with out-of-network benefits, and we verify your coverage before treatment begins. What you pay depends on your plan, deductible, and coinsurance.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the most established treatment, helping identify triggers and interrupt the cycle, combined with emotion-regulation skills, group therapy, and trauma-focused work. Quest delivers these through structured outpatient care with dual-diagnosis support.
No. Quest’s approach is non-judgmental and inclusive. Treatment is not about judging your sexuality or imposing a moral standard; it addresses a pattern of behavior you experience as out of control and harmful. Lowering shame is part of what makes change possible.
Usually not. Most people are treated effectively in outpatient care while continuing to work and live at home, which also lets them practice new patterns with support. Quest provides PHP, IOP, and outpatient care; more severe cases may need a higher level first.
No medication is approved specifically for compulsive sexual behavior. However, medication can treat co-occurring conditions like depression or anxiety that drive the behavior, and Quest’s psychiatrist manages this when appropriate, alongside therapy.
Often, yes. Many people with compulsive sexual behavior have a history of trauma, and the behavior can become a way of coping with unresolved pain. Quest provides trauma-informed care that treats the underlying experiences, not just the behavior.
Yes. Quest is a dual-diagnosis provider and treats compulsive sexual behavior alongside trauma, depression, anxiety, and substance use in one coordinated plan, which gives lasting change a stronger foundation.
Yes. Treatment is confidential, and Quest provides care in person and through secure telehealth across California, so you can attend on site or from home. Call (818) 275-9810 to get started.
Call (818) 275-9810 or verify your insurance to start treatment at Quest Wellness Center, confidentially and without judgment.
Marriage and Family Therapist Associate, MA
Medically reviewed by Verta Keshishyan, AMFT (Associate Marriage and Family Therapist), registered with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences and supervised by Ari Labowitz, LMFT. Verta has three years of experience with the Department of Mental Health supporting low-income families and families in crisis.
We specialize in treatments for mental health issues and co-occurring disorders.
We concentrate on mental health treatments and co-occurring conditions.
We provide a personalized approach to care.
We possess many years of relevant experience and a strong track record of success.
Every group is led by a master’s-level therapist.
Our partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs provide choices for morning, afternoon, or evening sessions.
We offer case management grounded in clinical evidence.
Experience a secure setting that allows you to concentrate on healing and maintaining a healthy way of life.
We provide opportunities to engage with individuals at every phase of recovery.
We accept most commercial PPO plans with out-of-network benefits. Coverage and costs vary by plan, and we verify your benefits before treatment.
Treatment at Quest is built on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the most established approach for compulsive sexual behavior. CBT helps you identify the triggers, thoughts, and situations that precede the behavior and build concrete strategies to interrupt the cycle and respond differently. Because the behavior is so often a way of coping with difficult emotions, treatment also builds emotion-regulation and distress-tolerance skills, drawing on DBT-based approaches, so there are healthier ways to handle the feelings that used to drive the behavior.
Group therapy is especially valuable, because it reduces the isolation and secrecy that sustain compulsive sexual behavior and lets people work alongside others who understand. Trauma-focused therapy addresses the past experiences that frequently underlie the behavior, and relapse-prevention planning maps personal triggers and clear responses. Most clients receive a combination across individual and group sessions, matched to what is driving the behavior for them.
We accept most commercial PPO plans with out-of-network benefits. Coverage and costs vary by plan, and we verify your benefits before treatment.
