What exactly is Sex Therapy?
Many people have an idea of what sex therapy and sex therapists are like based on movies like Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers or the popular Netflix series “Sex Education” but like all stereotypes, those ideas are often pretty far from the truth. Our sexuality is such a fundamental part of who we are. Maintaining positive sexual health is vital to our happiness and relationships. If we are experiencing a problem with our sexuality or sexual expression, it often impacts our entire lives.
Many people grew up in homes where no one discussed sex or were shamed for any type of sexual expression. Others experienced shame about their body or their sexual interests or fantasies. And others had a decent enough sex life until something happened such as getting married, having a baby, losing an erection, menopause, a health crisis, or other major life events. Being alone with a sexual struggle or fearing your relationship is going to fall apart because of a sexual issue is overwhelming. Kudo’s to you for having the courage to reach out and ask for help.
What kinds of things do we talk about?
Sex therapy involves talking about your sexual health and your relationship with your sexuality. Some of the things we talk about are listed below, but from my experience, the main topics are a desire mismatch between partners, low desire, painful sex, erectile difficulties, inability to have an orgasm, and boredom with your sex life. Here’s a more comprehensive list of many of the things clients want to address:
- Discomfort discussing sexuality
- Desire mismatch between partners
- Low Sexual Desire
- Pain During Sex (Vaginismus, Dyspareunia, Vulvodynia)
- Difficulty with Erections/Erectile Dysfunction
- Difficulty with Orgasm
- Infertility and Sex
- Post-Partum Sexuality
- Erectile Dysfunction
- Premature Ejaculation
- Delayed Ejaculation
- Performance Anxiety
- Concerns about pornography use
- Sexual and Emotional Affairs
- Sexual Abuse or Trauma
- Gender Expression/Sexual Expression
- Polyamory
- BDSM/Kink
- Issues with Pornography
- Out-of-Control Sexual Behavior (a.k.a. Sex Addiction)
At SANA, we are fortunate to have a Certified Sex Therapist on staff. Heather England is an American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) Certified Sex Therapist.
She has a Certificate in Sexual Health from the University of Michigan and is currently working on her Ph.D in Clinical Sexology.
Please reach out via Heather’s contact form if you are ready to jump into this subject. It’s a lot like jumping into the deep end of the pool off of the high dive: sometimes, you just need to take a leap of faith and jump.