Sex
Therapy
WHAT SEX THERAPY IS
Sex therapy is a talk therapy process through which the therapist can assist the client with a multitude of sex related issues including performance anxiety, sexual functioning or lack thereof, intimacy issues, desire issues, pain with sex, and unmet desires or expectations. We work from a systemic perspective and explore when, where, and how you learned about sex, what your previous sexual experiences were, what your current sexual experiences are and how that information shapes the way you perceive sex in the present. Additionally, sex therapists can provide sex education or correct miseducation.
From a systemic perspective, beliefs we develop about sex can be skewed by religious, cultural, or societal views about sex, yet your personal desires and beliefs may not align with those skewed messages from other sources. A sex therapist can help you work through those beliefs and determine what works for you and what does not. We are not here to change your mind about anything related to sex or sexuality or force you to conform to anyone’s expectations and desires other than your own.
Sex therapists also work with couples who experience various sex related issues such as diminished or discrepant desire, differing beliefs about sex, sexuality, and acceptable sexual behaviors. Most of the time relationship partners who seek out sex therapy have difficulty communicating about sex with each other. Sex therapy can help relationship partners communicate with each other about their desires, preferences, wants, needs, and limitations. Sex therapy with relationship partners follows the same pattern as relationship therapy. The first session is with both partners, the second and third sessions are individual sessions with each partner, and the fourth session brings both partners back together with the therapist so the therapist can discuss what they have learned between your first relationship session and your individual sessions and then propose a plan for treatment moving forward.
Many people find it difficult or shameful to discuss sex or sexuality with a stranger. We will try to make this as comfortable for you as possible. There is nothing you can tell us that will make us judge you negatively
Before scheduling an appointment with one of our sex therapists for any sexual issues such as low or no desire, inability to gain or maintain an erection, premature or delayed ejaculation, inability to orgasm, or pain with intercourse please consult a physician to rule out any possible medical causes for your sexual issues. While it is possible to have a hormonal imbalance combined with psychological issues with sex or sexuality it is always best to rule out or establish any possible medical causes first.
WHAT SEX THERAPY IS NOT
Sex therapy is not a “hands on” treatment of sexual issues. At no point will your sex therapist physically touch you, see you naked, watch you having sex, or watch videos of you having sex or masturbating. You will also not see your sex therapist naked nor will he or she demonstrate any techniques on you or anyone else.
WHY SEX THERAPY MATTERS
Sexuality is an integral part of human life. It carries the awesome potential to create new life. It can foster intimacy and bonding as well as shared pleasure in our relationships. It fulfills a number of personal and social needs, and we value the sexual part of our being for the pleasures and benefits it affords us…. Sexual health is inextricably bound to both physical and mental health. – David Sacher, M.D., Ph.D. Surgeon General 2001
Sexual health is a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction, or infirmity. – World Health Organization
SEXUAL TRAUMA
When people hear the words sexual trauma they tend to picture violent sexual assaults or rape. In reality many situations that are subtle or confusing qualify as sexual trauma and can have lasting effects on the individual’s mental, physical, and sexual health. ANY time you had any sexual experience that you did not want to have, whether or not you said no or fought back, can be a sexual trauma. In many cases people consent to unwanted sex to either get out of a potentially dangerous situation, because their partner coerced them, manipulated them, deceived them, or had power over the person who did not want to have sex. Despite the perception of consent the unwilling partner can experience many after effects such as depression, anxiety, nightmares, hypervigilance, sex aversion, pain with intercourse, inability to orgasm and many other issues. Our agency specializes in the treatment of sexual trauma, especially the often ignored, disputed, or confusing nonconsensual sexual experiences.
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