The treatment and rehabilitation of sex addicts involves getting to the root cause of the problem before addressing the addictive elements. Treatments usually involve psychotherapy and sometimes group work. As sex is a fact of life the usual aim, like overeating, is to control the situation. Sex addiction frequently has a negative impact on relationships. Couples therapy is an option which looks at ways the couple can support one another whilst highlighting the pain and anguish the addiction is having on the spouse or partner. Medication may also be used in combination, particularly where depression, anxiety, or OCD are associated.

There are also broader questions we might consider. Mark Schwartz, a psychologist and former director of the Masters and Johnson Institute has described an upsurge in sex addiction of "epidemic proportions...particularly with regards to cybersex". If sex addiction is likened to a disease should we respond like physicians by treating the effects or should we be more active in trying to prevent the cause? Teenagers are increasingly having their attitudes shaped by the images they see on the internet. The reality of relationships is less satisfying and therefore more vulnerable. Is this what we really want, or is it part of the price we pay for a liberalization of attitudes and behaviors?