CBT for Addiction: Porn, Alcohol, Gambling, and More
The Behavior Still Works.
That's Why Willpower Doesn't.
Evidence-Based CBT for Every Addiction.
Structured, Outpatient, and Time-Limited.
Match with a doctoral psychologist.
Same-week appointments available.
2X
Fewer Dropouts
Clients receiving CBT therapies are up to twice as likely to finish therapy as those receiving traditional talk therapy.*
50%
Less Relapse
People in CBT for addictions have half the number of relapses as those in traditional talk therapy.**
0%
Guesswork
We track outcomes from day one so we know if the treatment is working by the end of the first month.
Our Therapists Have Been Featured In
When the Behavior Has Outlasted Your Attempts to Stop
The behavior still works, and that's the hard part. It takes the edge off after a brutal day, quiets the boredom, or makes the anxiety disappear for an hour. Then the consequences stack up: the money, the lost hours, the promises you did not keep.
Most people who look for addiction treatment in Los Angeles are functioning on the outside. You go to work, you show up for people, and the people closest to you may not know how much of your attention this takes. You don’t need to hit bottom, and you do not need to leave your life to get help.
How We Treat Addiction at Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Los Angeles
In the first session or two, we map the specific chain that drives the behavior: the situations, feelings, and thoughts that show up right before you drink, use, place a bet, or open the app. From there, the work is concrete. We use cognitive restructuring to identify CBT Cognitive distortions that grant permission in the moment ("one won't hurt," "I've earned this," "I'll start over tomorrow") and test them against what actually happens.
We use behavioral strategies to change your environment and build other ways to get the relief the behavior provided. When cravings hit hard, we use CBT interventions such as acceptance and distress-tolerance skills from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT for Substance Use) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) so you can ride out an urge without acting on it.
Between sessions, you track urges and slips, often with a brief weekly check-in and simple 0 to 10 ratings, so we can see what’s working instead of guessing. CBT for addictive behavior is structured as a defined course of weekly sessions, with a relapse-prevention plan built in from the start so the skills hold after treatment ends. What you leave with is a plan you can run on your own: knowing your triggers, knowing what to do in the ten minutes when an urge peaks, and knowing how to recover from a slip before it becomes a relapse.
CBT for Different Addictions and Addictive Behaviors
The same core CBT framework works for every type of addiction. Here’s what that looks like across the addictions we treat most often.
CBT for Alcohol and Drug Addiction
For drinking and drug use, we focus on the high-risk moments: the times of day, people, and feelings that reliably lead to using. You build specific alternatives for those moments and a relapse-prevention plan you can actually follow. Outpatient CBT fits people who don’t need medical detox; if you do, we’ll help you get the right level of care first.
Learn more: CBT Treatment for Drug and Alcohol Use in Los Angeles
CBT for Gambling Addiction
Gambling runs on predictable thinking errors: chasing losses, near-miss excitement, the belief that you are due. We target those distortions directly and rebuild the routines and finances that gambling has taken over, so the urge has fewer openings.
CBT for Porn Addiction
Problematic pornography use is one of the most common reasons people reach this page. We treat the cycle, not the morality of it: the triggers that start it, the escalation that keeps it going, and the shame that resets it. The goal is behavior that matches your own values, not someone else's rules.
CBT for Compulsive Sexual Behavior (Sex Addiction)
Compulsive sexual behavior, sometimes called sex addiction, is not a formal diagnosis, but the CBT and ACT skills that work for other compulsive behaviors apply directly. We help you understand the patterns driving the behavior and build control over it, without judgment.
CBT to Quit Smoking
Quitting smoking is part physical and part habit. We tie each urge to its cue, build replacement routines, and set a quit structure that focuses on developing skills and habits that rely on willpower alone.
Learn more: CBT to Quit Smoking in Los Angeles
CBT for Video Game Addiction
When gaming has taken over time you meant for work, sleep, or people, we look at what it is giving you, whether escape, achievement, or structure. Then we build those rewards into the rest of your life and set limits that actually hold.
If you want to know what this would look like for your situation, a 15-minute call is the fastest way to find out.
Free 15-minute consultation. No pressure to schedule.
What to Expect
Sessions are 50 minutes, usually weekly, and are focused on learning and implementing CBT skills. You can meet in person at our Westwood/Brentwood or Pasadena offices, or by telehealth anywhere in California, with evening times available. You work with a doctoral-level psychologist, not a trainee or a master’s-level counselor.
We are an out-of-network practice. Many clients use their PPO benefits: we provide superbills, and many plans reimburse 50 to 80 percent. We accept HSA and FSA.
Why CBT Los Angeles for Addiction
You work with a doctoral psychologist, start to finish
In many programs, your day-to-day contact is a marriage and family therapist, an intern, or a peer in recovery. Here, every clinician is a doctoral-level psychologist who specializes in CBT, and that is who you see every week. For addictive behavior, where the same thinking patterns keep returning in different disguises, that level of training is what keeps treatment precise instead of generic.
Structured and time-limited, not open-ended
This is not a program you check into or a meeting you attend for the rest of your life. The work has a defined shape: assessment, skills, a relapse-prevention plan, and a clear sense of progress. Most people keep working, parenting, and living in LA the entire time, one hour a week instead of thirty days away.
If you’re not sure whether outpatient CBT is enough for what you are dealing with, that is exactly what the free consultation is for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need rehab, or is outpatient therapy enough?
It depends on the behavior and your medical situation. Outpatient CBT fits people who are functioning day to day and don’t need medical detox or 24-hour supervision. If you need a higher level of care, we’ll tell you during the consultation and help you find it.
I have tried to quit before, and it didn’t last. Why would this be different?
Most people here have already tried willpower, a group, or general talk therapy. CBT is different because it targets the specific moments you relapse and gives you a written plan for them. A slip becomes information we use, not proof that you failed.
What happens if it’s not the right fit?
We’ll tell you. If your situation requires something we don’t offer, or if a different clinician would serve you better, we’ll tell you during the consultation or in the first sessions and point you toward the right option. You are never locked in.
What actually happens in the first session?
We get specific. You describe the behavior and the situations around it, and we start mapping the chain that leads to it. By the end, you have a clear read on what is keeping it going and what the first changes would be. No lectures, no labels.
Is this confidential? I don’t want this on a record.
Your treatment is confidential and protected by law. We are a private outpatient practice, not a court program or a public registry. Our clients come to us specifically because they want help without it entering their work or legal life.
Start With a Free 15-Minute Consultation
You don’t have to have it all figured out to make one call. The free 15-minute consultation is a chance to tell us what is going on, ask whatever you need to, and find out whether this is the right fit, with no pressure to book anything. We see clients in Brentwood/Westwood and Pasadena, and by telehealth across California. Call (310) 254-9748 or request a consultation below.
The hardest part is the first call. It takes just a few minutes.
Start feeling better this week. Same-week appointments available.
Medically Reviewed by Albert Bonfil, PsyD.
Updated June 2026
Articles Cited
* Linehan, M. M., Schmidt, H., III, Dimeff, L. A., Craft, J. C., Kanter, J., & Comtois, K. A. (1999). Dialectical behavior therapy for patients with borderline personality disorder and drug-dependence. The American Journal on Addictions, 8(4), 279–292.
** Bowen, S., Witkiewitz, K., Clifasefi, S. L., Grow, J., Chawla, N., Hsu, S. H., Carroll, H. A., Harrop, E., Collins, S. E., Lustyk, M. K., & Larimer, M. E. (2014). Relative efficacy of mindfulness-based relapse prevention, standard relapse prevention, and treatment as usual for substance use disorders: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry, 71(5), 547–556.