Barry Redman

Barry specialises in supporting individuals and couples affected by sex and porn addiction, compulsive sexual behaviours, and the impact these difficulties can have on relationships. He provides a confidential, compassionate, and non-judgemental space where clients can explore the patterns underlying their behaviour and work towards meaningful and lasting change.

Before retraining as a counsellor, Barry worked for many years as a sustainability consultant within the construction industry. His career involved collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, managing staff, leading projects, and working with a wide range of clients and stakeholders. This experience gave him a practical appreciation of the pressures people can face in their working lives, relationships, and personal development.

Alongside his professional career, Barry’s own experience of therapy, recovery, and personal development led him to appreciate the profound impact that counselling can have. Drawing on both professional training and lived experience of recovery, Barry has developed a deep appreciation of the ways people attempt to cope with pain, loneliness, shame, fear, and disconnection. Inspired by these experiences, he returned to university to train as an integrative counsellor and has since developed a specialist interest in sex and porn addiction, recovery, and personal growth.

Barry holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Integrative Counselling and Coaching and has completed Internal Family Systems (IFS) Level 1 training. IFS is a therapeutic approach that recognises that we all have different parts of ourselves, each attempting to help or protect us in its own way. This can be particularly valuable in addiction work, where clients often describe one part of themselves wanting to stop a behaviour while another continues to seek it out. By helping clients understand these internal conflicts with curiosity and compassion rather than judgement, clients can often develop a deeper understanding of themselves and the needs that their behaviours may be attempting to meet.

Rather than viewing addiction as a moral failing or a lack of willpower, Barry works from the belief that compulsive sexual behaviours and problematic pornography use often develop as attempts to cope with difficult emotions, unmet needs, painful experiences, or patterns established earlier in life. Through counselling, clients can begin to understand these patterns, develop healthier ways of responding to emotional distress, and build a more authentic and connected life.

Barry works with individuals and couples affected by:

• Porn addiction
• Compulsive sexual behaviour
• Problematic use of pornography
• Online sexual behaviours that feel out of control
• Relationship difficulties arising from sexual behaviours
• Shame, guilt, and secrecy
• Intimacy and attachment difficulties
• Low self-esteem and emotional regulation difficulties

Alongside his work with individuals, Barry also supports couples who are seeking to understand and recover from the impact that addiction and secrecy can have on relationships. He recognises that recovery affects not only the person engaging in the behaviour but also those closest to them.

Clients often describe Barry’s approach as compassionate, thoughtful, and direct. He aims to provide a safe, non-judgemental environment where difficult subjects can be discussed openly and honestly.

Recovery can be challenging, but it is also possible, and Barry believes that lasting change becomes more achievable when people understand not only what they are doing, but also the emotional needs and protective strategies that lie beneath the behaviour.

Barry facilitates recovery groups through the Cherry Tree Therapy Centres and offers counselling both online and in person from Buckhurst Hill and Henley-on-Thames.

If pornography, compulsive sexual behaviour, or the impact of addiction is affecting your life or relationships, Barry offers a confidential space in which to explore what is happening and begin moving towards recovery.

• Postgraduate Diploma in Integrative Counselling and Coaching
• Internal Family Systems (IFS) Level 1 Trained