Sex Therapy

If you’ve ever wondered how to become a sex therapist, you are not alone. As a therapist or counselor, you may be considering a specialty so you can better serve your clients. You already enjoy couples counseling, and if you want to enhance your clinical skills, then you should consider becoming a sex therapist. Both individual and couples clients that you work will benefit from your training as a sex therapist. However, before you jump into a specialization in sex therapy, here are a few basics to consider. What is sex therapy? There is a lot of misinformation and myths about sex therapy

Have you ever worked with a client and felt unsure if you are providing the best support? Whether you are a new or seasoned therapist in the mental health field, we all can benefit from ensuring we are giving the best care. When you work with transgender and non-binary clients, it’s essential to provide the clinical care they deserve. Many transgender and non-binary people face hardships, which can include discrimination, fear of violence, suicide, as well as lack of family support. Clinicians need to be aware of how their assumptions and perspective affect their clinical presence. As

The field of addiction counseling is a tough one at times. Helping a client along their journey from their life being out of control to recovery can be one of the most rewarding parts of being a therapist. However, just as exhilarating as it is to see a client succeed, it can be daunting when they don’t. There is no such thing as a perfect client or therapist. Here is what you need to know, so you don’t personalize a client’s relapse. What is a relapse? Relapse is the return of an illness after a period of improvement. The time frame of improvement differs from person to person. There is a

As a sex therapist, your decision to specialize in a niche clinical area is an important one. There are many areas of focus that you can choose to work in. My advice is that you work in a few areas to decide what you enjoy and more importantly, what you don’t enjoy. As you develop your general clinical skills, you will begin to find the type of client issues you enjoy working with on a daily basis. My clinical journey led me to the field of clinical sexology. Many factors went into my decision-making process to specialize in the area. If you are considering specializing as a sex therapist

As clinicians, we often learn something new every day. Education comes from experience in the clinical setting and our quest for continued learning in the field. One area that many clinicians need to continue to grow is working with LGBTQIA+ clients. I use LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, plus) acronym because I feel like it is more inclusive. Often you will see LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQI, and other acronyms for the community. As a clinician, advocate, and ally, I wanted to share a few mistakes that some providers make when working with the community. Mistake

As a clinical sexologist and certified sex therapist, I get asked many questions every week about sexuality. I find that many people struggle with shyness or uncertainty when discussing sex because it is viewed as a taboo subject. I appreciate people who want to learn more and find the answers they are looking for. People’s views of human sexuality are often affected by how they were educated about sex and their experience, or lack thereof with sexuality. Through the years of working with individuals, couples, and families there are a few questions that continue to surface. Here are the three

You enjoy individual and couples counseling, but you notice that intimacy continues to present as a problem in most of your sessions. If you are open to learning new clinical skills to help these clients consider becoming a certified sex therapist. Marriage and family therapists, social workers, and licensed counselors have the option of studying sex counseling. Sex therapy is a great field to study if you are interested in helping individuals and couples explore intimacy in their lives. Through a sex therapy certification program and supervision, you will be able to help individuals on a

You feel confident and competent in your clinical skills, but there is always something you can improve on. Even the most skilled clinician has room to grow. One area to ensure you are providing the best care is for your LGBTQIA+ clients. They face many barriers throughout their lives, and you can be great support for the community. Let’s start with defining the acronym LGBTQIA+. This stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and the (+) plus includes all of the other identities along the spectrum. This symbol is used to be inclusive of identities that aren’t

If you provide marriage counseling or couples counseling you probably have discussed sex during a session. Maybe your client brought the topic up as an issue in their relationship, or you asked if there are any problems with intimacy. As a therapist, there is no way to escape the topic of sex and intimacy. Sex is a significant issue that leads people to begin couples therapy. In relationship counseling and marriage therapy, there is always something to learn about sex and intimacy. Even though I have a doctorate in clinical sexology and am a certified sex therapist, I continue to attend

Even after 12 years of clinical work with the LGBTQIA+ community I learn new terms and phrases almost on a weekly basis. With more visibility, awareness, and advocacy, people are expanding their understanding of their identities. As a clinician, it is vital that you receive training and education to work with the LGBTQIA+ community. If you know that LGBTQIA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual, then you have taken the first step. Along with other people I use LGBTQIA+ versus LGBTQIA to be more inclusive of all other identities. Adding the + sign is