Sex & Love Addiction Recovery
Private, one-to-one residential care for compulsive sexual behaviour, love addiction, and attachment wounds. Shame-informed, evidence-based, and fully confidential — in Southern Spain.
For individuals who value complete discretion and a truly personalised approach
Sex & Love Addiction: Scope of Care
Shame and privacy concerns make sex and love addiction one of the most underreported and undertreated behavioural patterns. Many individuals live with significant distress for years before seeking support — and when they do, the environment matters enormously.
One-to-one care provides a contained space, stable attunement, and sufficient clinical time to change high-risk loops while protecting dignity. No group disclosure. No shared therapy rooms. Complete clinical focus on you.
Compulsive sexual behaviour
Persistent use of pornography, sexting, cybersex, escort seeking, or risky encounters despite awareness of harm to health, relationships, or professional standing. The behaviour continues despite repeated attempts to stop.
Love addiction and relationship compulsivity
Intense pursuit of relationships, rapid attachment, fear of abandonment, and cycles of infidelity or serial relationships. The focus shifts from the person to the feeling of pursuit itself — relief, intensity, and the avoidance of being alone.
Attachment wounds and trauma themes
Anxious or avoidant attachment patterns, shame, secrecy, and difficulty with consent, boundaries, and authenticity in relationships. Many clients present with histories of early caregiving disruption, relational trauma, or abandonment experiences that shape current patterns.
Co-occurring conditions
Sex and love addiction commonly overlaps with anxiety, depression, ADHD, internet overuse, and work-related burnout. Addressing these within a single integrated plan — rather than in isolation — is central to lasting change.
Recognising the signs
Common Signs and Effects
Sex and love addiction often presents in high-functioning individuals. The external life may appear intact while the internal experience involves significant distress, shame, and loss of control.
- Repeated promises to stop, followed by binges and secrecy
- Late-night sessions, disrupted mornings, and reliance on caffeine or sedatives
- Shame, anxiety, low mood, irritability, and social withdrawal
- Secrecy around devices, boundary breaches, conflict, and trust rupture in relationships
- Unsafe encounters, privacy exposure, and spending spikes
- Escalating behaviour over time despite consequences — more frequent, more risky, or harder to stop
- Mixing with alcohol or sedatives before or after sessions
- Maintained external functioning while experiencing significant internal distress
Clinical assessment
Mapping the Loop
Before treatment begins, we build a complete picture of the pattern. Assessment covers six areas that together explain why the behaviour persists and where intervention will have the most impact.
Behaviour profile
Triggers, platforms, locations, time of day, spending, escalation patterns, and binge windows. Understanding the full map of the behaviour is the foundation of effective treatment.
Attachment and history
Early caregiving patterns, previous trauma, abandonment themes, and relationship cycles. The history informs how current patterns developed and what sustains them.
Sleep and physiology
Sleep latency, night waking, morning readiness, appetite, and energy stability. Sleep disruption both drives and is driven by compulsive behaviour patterns.
Mood and cognition
Anxiety, low mood, shame scripts, perfectionism, and executive function. Co-occurring mood patterns are assessed and integrated into the treatment plan.
Environment and risk
Device locations, privacy risks, notification load, travel patterns, and work stress. Environmental factors are often as clinically significant as psychological ones.
Medical and safeguarding
Sexual health screening coordination if wanted, consent and safety risks, and physician liaison where medication is involved. We do not prescribe or alter doses.
CLINICAL APPROACH
Our Approach to Sex & Love Addiction
Treatment combines trauma-informed psychotherapy with practical device and environment rules, then rebuilds healthy intimacy at a pace that holds — without group disclosure and without judgement.
DBT-Informed Skills
Urge surfing, distress tolerance, emotion regulation after conflict, and interpersonal effectiveness for boundaries and consent. DBT skills provide the practical toolkit for the moments that most commonly lead to relapse — high arousal, shame spikes, and interpersonal conflict.
Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)
Resolves ambivalence, aligns treatment with personal values, and converts decisions into daily rules with clear consequences. Many clients have significant internal conflict about change — MET works with that ambivalence rather than against it.
Somatic Regulation
TRE, functional breathwork, and guided movement to reduce hyperarousal and improve sleep quality. Compulsive sexual behaviour is often driven by physiological dysregulation as much as psychological patterns — somatic work addresses the body directly.
Digital Environment Design
Device zoning, app and site blocks, notification hygiene, removal of saved payment cards, delay rules, and curated content filters. Behaviour change without environmental change rarely holds.
Attachment and Intimacy Work
Pacing touch and closeness, boundary scripts, and values-led intimacy plans that respect consent and safety. The goal is not the elimination of intimacy but the rebuilding of it on healthier, more sustainable terms.
Partner and Family Support
Structured disclosures at your pace, repair conversations, and simple rules for transparency if chosen. All partner and family involvement requires your explicit consent. We support the process — we do not direct it.
Ready to Talk — Privately?
Sex and love addiction carries significant shame, which makes the first step harder. Our admissions team is experienced in this area and approaches every conversation with discretion and without judgement. There is no obligation.
Every programme is one-to-one. The weekly clinical dose is calibrated to the complexity of the presentation and adjusted as the programme progresses. A typical week includes:
Weekly clinical dose:
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7–10 hours of individual psychotherapy per week — focused on shame repair, attachment patterns, and impulse control. The clinical dose is higher than standard outpatient care precisely because these patterns require sustained, contained therapeutic attention.
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3–5 hours of skills and planning work per week — covering device rules, boundary scripts, relapse prevention, and calendar design for high-risk windows. Skills are practised until they are automatic, not just understood.
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2–4 hours of somatic regulation per week — TRE and body-based work to stabilise the nervous system, reduce hyperarousal, and improve sleep. Physiological stability is a prerequisite for sustained behavioural change.
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Protected integration time daily — nature, rest, and unstructured practice so change consolidates between sessions. Insight without integration rarely produces lasting behaviour change.
SAMPLE PATHWAYS
Two Sample Treatment Pathways
Every programme is tailored to the individual. These two pathways illustrate how the clinical framework is applied in practice across the most common presentations we treat.
Pathway 1 — Compulsive Pornography and Sexting with Sleep Collapse
Week 1: Circadian reset, device lockdown and zoning, DBT regulation blocks, MET values work, TRE, and creation of a first device and boundaries charter.
Week 2: Curated feeds, delay rules, social reconnection offline, partner alignment if helpful, and aftercare calendar.
Weeks 3 to 4: Graded exposure to devices in high-risk windows, slip drills for travel and evenings, step down to structured follow-ups.
Pathway 2 — Serial Affairs and Risky Encounters with Alcohol Use
Week 1: Safety plan, alcohol boundaries with physician coordination if indicated, DBT distress tolerance, TRE, and first transparency and money rules where relevant.
Week 2: Attachment-focused work, boundary scripts, partner repair session if consented, MET to resolve ambivalence, and aftercare plan.
Weeks 3 to 4: Weekend and travel protocols, graded social exposure, relapse prevention for anniversaries and triggers, step down to structured follow-ups.
Partner Repair and Long-Term Recovery
Recovery from sex and love addiction extends beyond individual behaviour change. Relationships, trust, and intimacy all require deliberate, supported rebuilding — at a pace that is realistic rather than rushed.
Relapse prevention planning begins in the first week and evolves throughout the programme. You do not leave with intentions — you leave with a concrete, personalised plan.
Structured disclosures and repair conversations
With your consent, we facilitate structured disclosures and repair conversations at a pace that is clinically appropriate and emotionally manageable. Options include limited shared visibility, timed check-ins, and a simple household transparency plan. All work respects consent and safety for both parties.
What you leave with
A personalised device and intimacy charter, boundary scripts, a 90-day calendar marking high-risk dates, and scheduled follow-up sessions. Ongoing support through Lifetime Aftercare. Where helpful, we can liaise with local therapists or physicians you choose to continue working with after discharge.
How to Start
The admissions process is designed to be straightforward, low-pressure, and fully confidential. Most clients move from first enquiry to confirmed programme within a few days.
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1Step 1
Send a confidential enquiry
Share a concise outline of your situation and goals. Everything is treated with complete discretion from this first contact onwards.
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2Step 2
Pre-admission assessment
We review history, risks, device use, relationships, and practical needs via secure video. This session informs the programme proposal and confirms clinical fit.
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3Step 3
Receive a tailored plan
We propose programme length, focus areas, and next steps. Physician coordination is arranged if clinically indicated. You review and confirm before anything is booked.
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4Step 4
Plan your travel
We arrange your arrival and private ground transfer to the residence. Straightforward routes into Malaga with unbranded, discreet logistics throughout.
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5Step 5
First 72 hours
Stabilise sleep, nutrition, and daily routine while beginning focused assessment and the first clinical sessions. The pace is calibrated to your state on arrival.
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6Step 6
Step down and aftercare
Continue with structured aftercare, boundary practice, and scheduled follow-ups at home. Your device and intimacy charter, 90-day calendar, and ongoing clinical contact are in place before you leave.
Find the right fit
Programmes
All programmes follow the same clinical framework but differ in duration, depth, and intensity. The right starting point depends on severity, co-occurring conditions, and your personal goals.
The Foundation Retreat
Assessment, stabilisation, and first clinical milestones. For clients at the beginning of the process who need clarity on pattern and direction.
The Restorative Path
Structured daily work on device boundaries, intimacy rules, and emotional regulation. For clients ready to build and consolidate the core recovery toolkit.
The Regenerative Stay
Deeper change for complex presentations — particularly where attachment trauma, co-occurring mood disorders, or dual addiction require integrated clinical work.
The Signature Experience
A fully bespoke programme for clients who require complete clinical flexibility, maximum privacy, and a senior-led framework built around their specific circumstances.
Our admissions team will recommend the most appropriate programme after the pre-admission assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re considering a private luxury rehab centre for yourself or someone you love, we’re here to help you take the next step with clarity and discretion.
Still have questions? Our admissions team is available 24 hours a day and approaches every conversation with complete discretion.
Speak With Us in Confidence