PSYCHOTHERAPY and SEXTHERAPY
Psychotherapy is the professional care of another by a qualified provider. This care is provided through the use of talk and communication.
Sextherapy is the professional care for the sexuality of another by a qualified provider. This care is to promote sexual health and responsible sexual behaviors.
In California it is against the law for a therapist to have sex with a client.
http://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/publications/proftherapy.pdf
CONTENTS
Scope of Practice
Sextherapy
Psychotherapy
Policies
Location
Structure
Cancellations
Fees
Insurance
Travel
Internships
Sex Therapist
MFT
SCOPE OF PRACTICE (What I’m qualified to do)
SEXTHERAPY
I am certified by AASECT (American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors & Therapists) as a Sex Therapist, a Sex Educator and as a Supervisor for sextherapy interns. Sextherapy, like sexuality, is complex and multidimensional. Sextherapy must be inclusive in its awareness of the interplay between medicine, biology and physiology, psychology, culture, environment, and interpersonal relationship dynamics.
Clients:
Some of my practice consists of caring for persons with specific sexuality issues. These could be behavioral struggles, relational concerns, desire issues, or body function problems.
Some clients have genital pain during sexual activity, some have a loss of sex drive or sexual desire. Others may have trouble with erections or lubrication, ability to orgasm when wanted, or may be hooked on one particular thing in order to reach orgasm. Sometimes people see me because their spouse says, There’s something wrong with you. People usually see me because they don’t want to be the way they are, or because they want to change something about their sexuality.
Style:
In the first session, in the style of Masters and Johnson, I usually take a brief Sex History of the client. We discuss the client's presenting problem, and co-factors that may be playing a role in the sexuality concern.
Cognitive Behavioral methods of psychotherapy sometimes work for some sexuality issues, such as rapid ejaculation and vaginismus.
Sometimes one session is enough. A client came to me once upset that sex with her husband had been wonderful and fulfilling until about half a year earlier when she seemed to have lost interest in sex completely. Turns out she was also put on an SSRI six months earlier. I recommended that she ask her prescribing doctor to switch her to Wellbutrin, a non-SSRI anti-depressant with little-to-no sexual side effects. A month later I got an email from her thanking me for “fixing” her sex life. Most prescribing physicians do not discuss sexual side effects with their patients, especially female patients. A few times a year one session is enough, but most sextherapy requires at least 5 or 6 sessions. Sometimes I will assess that what is presented as a sexuality issue is really a relational issue, or a personality challenge, and will then recommend psychotherapy.
Return to top
PSYCHOTHERAPY
I am licensed by the state of California as a MFT (Marriage and Family Therapist) (MFC39060).
Most of the work I do is customized psychotherapy with sexual minority people. These folks include, but are not limited to: BDSM kinkyfolk of every gender and orientation, lifestyle swinger/ modern couples, fetishists, sex workers, gays and lesbians and the bi tribe.
Many clients have reported to me feeling judged by psychotherapists who don’t really understand erotic minority people. And countless times I’ve heard that in years of treatment with their previous therapists they never once discussed sex.
Clients:
I work with individual adults, couples, and families of any construction including polyamorous constellations, Master/slave, Owner/pup, zoos, furries and devs. I’ve worked with polygamous Muslims and Orthodox Jews, people of every color and gender, Hindus in arranged marriages, Buddhists, Sikhs, Baha'i, Zoroastrians. My office is wheelchair accessible and all are welcome, even vanilla straight people. : )
Style:
The style of psychotherapy I do (my theoretical orientation) is what many therapists refer to as: eclectic. This eclectic method of psychotherapy incorporates differing schools of psychotherapy into a special blend to suit each clients’ needs. The therapist and patient collaborate on what strategies for treatment may be most beneficial.
My work has a strong foundation in the Humanist/Existential school of psychotherapy, a client-focused energy dynamic. With unconditional positive regard for the clients’ actualizing their full human potential, we work at accepting and honoring what is manifesting now. In this framework the therapist may challenge the client to view their situation from a different, more holistic perspective.
There is a framework of Psychoanalytic, or object-relations throughout my work. My supervisor was a holocaust survivor who was very old-school. This psychoanalytic lineage comes from Freud, and has evolved into object-relations and self psychology. Through good enough witnessing by the therapist, the client can achieve a corrective emotional experience. In this modality, psychoanalytic interpretations are made by the therapist to the client which, if well executed and received, can have a profound emotional experience for the client. This psychoanalytic method can work well with Humanist/Existentialism by utilizing the patient/therapist relationship as a catalyst for a better understanding of what patterns the client may be employing in their interpersonal relationships.
Occasionally at work I love playing with some post-modern Narrative Therapy windows. We all get stuck in our stories, some people looping over and over in their heads. Sometimes we tell ourselves that we’re a certain way, even when most others see us differently. We all need to get some new stories going on, and to remember that it’s okay to have more than one person and more than one story in you. I promote my clients engaging in Multiple Personality Order. For example, a professional executive, soccer mom and a kinky sub all in the same day. We look for exceptions to problem saturated stories. This is a collaborate approach which creates unique outcomes.
The more inspirationally inclined clients, the bhakti bodhisatvas, the pagans, those into yoga and others, my work can include mindfulness practice, mantra devotion, and creating ritual.
Every client is different and has different needs and different communication styles.
Return to top
POLICIES
Location:
I only conduct therapy face-to-face in office, with emergency exceptions for established clients. Sorry, no internet counseling. (I know, very old-school).
Structure:
Sessions are usually 50 minutes long, starting at the top of the hour, and ending at ten of the hour. Longer sessions and double sessions are available when warranted. Most clients prefer sessions once a week, others prefer more often than that. And others, especially those who have already been in treatment for a while, go to every other week, then once a month. Some clients finish up, then return a year or two later for a tune up, or to deal with a new issue.
Cancellation:
The client will be charged for appointments cancelled in less than 24 hours.
Fees:
The standard fee is $150 per session. I keep three slots for sexology/psychology students at $100 per session. Some sliding scale slots are available at times.
Insurance:
Payments are made at each session by check or cash. I mail out monthly statements to clients who wish to seek reimbursements from their insurance carriers.
Travel:
Clients of mine are aware that I travel frequently. A calendar is posted in the waiting room, and plenty of notice is given. Sometimes I go away for extended periods. In 2009 I went to India and Nepal for two months. Special arrangements are made in advance with clients on an individual needs basis.
Return to top
INTERNSHIPS:
Sex Therapy Intern for AASECT certification:
To achieve the 50 intern supervision hours required for AASECT certification as a Sex Therapist, I offer both individual and group supervision.
You must be a licensed psychotherapist to qualify, in practice for at least two years (or can prove special circumstances, i.e., a degree from IASHS or Widener U or equivalent).
You will need to present a diversity of cases from your practice, including DSM dysfunctions, alternate orientations, and non-monogamous couples. I work in the feminist model which requires disclosure of countertransference and personal sexuality issues to be addressed.
Candidates may call for a brief phone chat. Please understand that I am picky about who I work with. 323.692.9120
Psychotherapy Intern for BBS licensure in California:
To seek supervision while achieving the 3000 hours required to become a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California, I offer two slots as permitted by law for private practice.
I will only be interested in intern candidates who qualify as sexologists by either their degrees, certifications, or a convincing story. I expect the intern to be engaged in either sex research, sex education, public policy, or sexual health advocacy.
It is not required for you to have the same theoretical orientations as I. But if your focus is substance abuse, eating disorders, and other areas not related specifically to sexuality, we’re not a match. Candidates may first call for a brief phone chat. Please understand that I am picky about who I work with. 323.692.9120
Return to top |
