It is understandable that you’d be concerned with what “sex therapy” might entail. We are often asked what a client might expect from sex therapy at LIIST.
Sex therapy is talk therapy with behavioral components. What that means is, in the office, we talk. The therapist never engages in physical contact with you. At first we talk about the history of who you are as a person, your family history, your dating/relationship history, your sexual history, and then the history of this problem in particular. With talk therapy, we work through any of the underlying psychological causes of your sexual difficulties. With behavioral therapy, we give you guided activities to do at home either with or without a partner. These activities start out very “low impact” and gradually work their way up to your goal. Each step is met with success before moving on to the next one. Especially throughout this process, your feedback is essential in order for us to customize your treatment to you.
Because collaboration is important, we often combine therapy at LIIST with the many allied individual and couples therapists, gynecologists, urologists, pelvic physical therapists and fertility specialists. You can contact our top Additional Resources here (go to the middle of the page).
Most people start off with weekly appointments for about 2-3 months and then move to every other week appointments for another 2-3 months, then either end therapy or move to monthly maintenance sessions for a few months, with the possibility of progressing to maintenance sessions every 3 months, or annual check ins if desired.
I hope that helps answer some of the questions you might have. Still wondering why you should go to a sex therapist?