Psychosexual Therapy

Sexual intimacy, an important part of a relationship, enables a couple to engage in a deep meaningful way that strengthens the bond between them. However, it is not uncommon for sexual relationships to be affected by stressful life events. Ongoing stress and conflict can impact negatively on one or both partners desire to be close or sexual. For many couples their general relationship may be strong and healthy but they may experience difficulties related to sexual functioning, anxiety or illness. The sensitivity and personal nature of sexual problems makes it difficult for individuals and couples to seek help. Psychosexual therapy seeks to develop comfort and knowledge around sexual issues and to relieve distress by dealing with sexual concerns or actual problems. Any sexual concern can be brought to psychosexual therapy.

Individuals who are not in a relationship may wish to attend alone to address concerns including issues relating to their own sexuality. Individuals in a new or ongoing relationship may also wish to attend sessions alone for a one (or many) of a number of common sexual problems.

Common sexual problems

Low sexual desire, difficulties related to arousal and orgasm experienced by male or female.
Vaginismus, Dyspareunia, Erectile problems, premature ejaculation.
Less specific issues include sexual orientation, difficulty communicating about sex, differences in desire or sexual needs and expectations.

Why Sex Therapy?

Sex therapy is appropriate when the sexual issue is identified as the primary problem in the relationship. A sex therapist can work effectively with an individual or couple. An initial assessment is followed by individual histories, which facilitates a clear understanding of the difficulties and the causes. This is followed by a treatment plan, which includes increasing knowledge, specific goals and weekly tasks that are negotiated and agreed. It is difficult to predict the number of sessions required to reach a satisfactory outcome but this can be discussed with the therapist.