You want a counselor who treats compulsive sexual behavior and shares your faith. Landmark Christian Counseling is Spencer Posey’s practice. He is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT #141641) and a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT). He sees clients in person in Ventura and online anywhere in California.
Who this page is for
Three kinds of people land here.
A man who has tried to stop watching porn on his own, sometimes for years, and wants treatment. He has made enough promises to himself.
A spouse who found out. You may be reading this on your phone late at night. You want to know what you are dealing with and whether anyone treats it.
A pastor or friend looking for a referral for someone they care about.
What Christian counseling for sexual addiction is at Landmark
It is clinical treatment and Christian conviction in the same room.
Landmark is a Christian practice. Spencer believes that Christ is the source of healing and that clinical treatment is one of the means He uses. That belief is the ground the work stands on. Clients who are not Christians are welcome and receive the same care.
The clinical side draws on the CSAT framework developed by Patrick Carnes. Spencer may use it alongside other approaches, including EMDR for trauma that sits under the behavior and attachment-based work for couples. The framework treats compulsive sexual behavior as a cycle that runs from preoccupation to ritual to acting out to despair, and then starts again.
A word on the word “addiction.” Clinicians disagree about it. The World Health Organization’s ICD-11 lists compulsive sexual behavior disorder as an impulse control disorder. Spencer works within the addiction framework because it gives clients a workable structure, and he knows its limits.
How it differs from pastoral care, software, and shame
Pastoral care. Your pastor may be a steady part of your support. Counseling adds assessment, a treatment plan, and a licensed clinician who is accountable for the work.
Accountability software. Filters and reports may help. The pattern underneath needs treatment.
Shame. Shame says you are the problem. It is also the fuel the cycle runs on. Treatment at Landmark works to take shame out of the room so the pattern can be looked at honestly. Conviction is different. Conviction points toward truth and repair. Shame points toward hiding.
What the work addresses
The pattern under the behavior. Porn or sex is often the relief. Stress, loneliness, old wounds, and a belief that you would not be loved as you are tend to sit underneath. Treatment looks there.
The secrecy. Compulsive sexual behavior lives on secrecy. Part of the work is building honesty that holds up outside the office.
Whether it is addiction or something else. A 2019 review, “Pornography Problems Due to Moral Incongruence,” found that for many people who call themselves porn addicts, distress is predicted more by the gap between their values and their behavior than by how much they use. The distress is the same size either way. Careful assessment comes first, so the plan fits what is going on.
The marriage, and the partner’s trauma. A spouse’s discovery of hidden sexual behavior produces symptoms that look like trauma. Intrusive thoughts. Hypervigilance. Checking. Trouble sleeping. Jennifer Freyd’s “Betrayal Trauma” (1996) explains why. The more a person depends on the one who did the harm, the deeper the injury. The partner did not cause the behavior and cannot fix it. Her symptoms are a response to injury. Landmark treats this through infidelity and betrayal trauma counseling.
What a course of treatment looks like
Every plan comes out of the assessment. This is the sequence Spencer often follows.
Assessment. The first session or two is spent on what the behavior is, how long it has gone on, what you have tried, what sits under it, and who else is affected. For couples, Spencer meets with both partners and then with each alone.
Individual work. Weekly sessions for the person with the compulsive behavior. The goals are sobriety from the behavior as you and Spencer define it, understanding the cycle, and treating what feeds it.
The partner’s own therapist. A betrayed spouse needs her own clinician. Couples work comes later, after each person is steadier and the truth is on the table.
Formal disclosure. A structured, therapist-guided process. The full account is written with the therapist over weeks. The partner prepares questions with her own therapist. The account is read once, in a joint session. Its purpose is to end discovery in pieces. It is a tool Spencer may use when it fits, and the couple chooses whether to use it.
The Sobriety Kickstarter Intensive. A focused three-month program with weekly therapy and daily accountability check-ins, for someone who wants more structure than weekly sessions alone.
The Rebuild Bible study. A 12-week guided study of the book of Zechariah for Christian men. It is educational and spiritual in nature and is not a substitute for therapy. It may fit alongside counseling. Explore the Bible study.
In person in Ventura and online across California
Landmark’s office is at 1560 East Main Street, Ventura, CA 93001. Online sessions are available to anyone located in California. Online works well for individual work and for a partner who wants her own therapist and lives far from Ventura. Spencer will say during the assessment if part of your work, such as a disclosure session, is better in person.
Who provides it, and what CSAT means
Spencer Posey, LMFT #141641, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He started Landmark Christian Counseling in 2024 for people in the Christian church struggling to overcome compulsive porn use and other unwanted sexual behaviors.
Certified Sex Addiction Therapist is a credential issued by the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals (IITAP). It means a licensed clinician has completed IITAP’s training and supervision in the assessment and treatment of compulsive sexual behavior, including work with partners and formal disclosure. Spencer is also trained in EMDR and in PACT, a couples model.
Read more
Christian counseling for pornography
Overcoming porn addiction with Christian therapy in California
Frequently asked questions
Is sexual addiction an actual diagnosis?
Not under that name. The ICD-11 includes compulsive sexual behavior disorder. The DSM-5 does not include a sexual addiction diagnosis. Spencer uses the addiction framework as a treatment structure, and the assessment is what decides whether it fits you.
Do I have to be a Christian to work with you?
No. Landmark is a Christian practice and Spencer’s faith is stated openly. Clients of any background or no faith are welcome.
My husband has the problem. Can I come on my own?
Yes. A betrayed partner’s symptoms need their own treatment. Spencer may work with you individually, or he may refer you to a partner specialist so that you and your husband each have your own clinician.
How long does treatment take?
There is no fixed number. The Sobriety Kickstarter Intensive runs three months. Individual work often runs longer. Some marriages rebuild and some do not. The aim is that both people make informed decisions with accurate information.
Do you take insurance?
Landmark is a private-pay practice and is not in network with any insurance plan, including Medicare. The fee for a 50-minute session is $225. If your plan has out-of-network benefits, it may reimburse part of the fee. You can check your benefits before you book.
Start
Call or text (805) 399-0223, or book an appointment. A free 15-minute consultation is available if you want to ask questions first.
Spencer Posey, LMFT #141641 | CSAT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Landmark Christian Counseling | landmarkchristiancounseling.com
Educational content, not therapy. No therapist-client relationship is formed by reading this. In crisis, call or text 988.