What is Psychosexual Therapy?
When relationships are under pressure, it is often the sexual relationship that goes wrong first – sex is also the last thing that comes right. I often think a couples feelings about their sexual relationship is a good barometer of the health of their relationship. How we feel and think about sex changes over time – however that doesn’t mean we need to accept a poor sexual relationship or that we need to satisfy our sexual desires with others. Often learning to talk about sexual needs and asking for the kind of sexual experience that makes it exciting is part of the sex or psychosexual therapy (PST) programme simply because a lot of couples don’t know how to do this.
Who is sex therapy for?
Couples or individuals whether heterosexual, gay or lesbian who are having problems expressing themselves sexually because of…
- a loss of interest or desire for sex
- pain during intercourse
- erection difficulties
- premature ejaculation
- sexual addiction issues
- a disability
- the effects and issues of living with, or surviving cancer
- problems experiencing or achieving orgasm.
- worries about sexual orientation
- the beliefs/thoughts about sex and sexual expression
which may have developed as a result of:
- the breakdown or ending of a relationship
- the beginning of a new relationship
- health problems
- getting a bit older
- body image issues
- sex being routine and boring.
How will Sex Therapy Help?
Enjoying sex with another person is a highly individual and integral part of our experience of being human. It is expressed in many different ways and our satisfaction with our sexual interactions is often determined by how comfortable we feel being intimate with another. It is also a sensitive barometer of our psychological well-being and is therefore affected by the many ups and downs in our day-to-day experiences.
It is therefore not surprising that many people experience sexual problems, and although it might feel awkward talking about something so personal with a complete stranger – in my experience, sex therapy is often a very positive experience and has a good success rate.
I enjoy this work because the often positive results of the work are felt by the client/s quite early on in our work together.