SEX THERAPY
Compassionate, evidence-based sex therapy
Sex and intimacy are deeply personal parts of a relationship. When there is distance, pressure, avoidance, pain, rejection, or differences in desire, it can affect more than your sex life — it can touch your sense of closeness, confidence, safety, and connection. In therapy, sex and intimacy concerns are approached with care, respect, and curiosity. The goal is not blame or pressure. The goal is to better understand what is happening and to create more room for honesty, connection, exploration, pleasure, and repair.
Intimacy can be learned, explored, and deepened
A fulfilling sexual relationship is not something most couples simply know how to create. Like other aspects of a relationship, it can be learned, explored, repaired, and deepened over time.
In our work together, we may explore emotional safety, communication, desire, touch, eroticism, boundaries, trust, and the ways stress or disconnection may be impacting physical intimacy. This work may also include guided experiential exercises that help translate insight into greater sensory awareness, connection, and intimacy.
Desire differences are common
Many couples struggle when one partner wants more sex, less sex, or a different kind of sexual connection. These differences can quickly become painful, especially when one person feels rejected and the other feels pressured. Therapy can help slow down this cycle so both partners feel less alone, less blamed, and more able to talk honestly about what they need. Depending on your goals, treatment may include both deeper exploration of the patterns contributing to these difficulties and structured, evidence-based interventions designed to help you develop new patterns of connection and intimacy.
Therapy can help with sex and intimacy concerns such as:
- Differences in sexual desire
- Avoidance, pressure, or disconnection around sex
- Difficulty talking about needs, boundaries, or preferences
- Shame, anxiety, or fear around intimacy
- Rebuilding sexual connection after conflict, betrayal or sexual addiction
- Feeling more like roommates than romantic partners
- Changes related to parenting, stress, work, health, or life transitions
- Exploring what fulfilling and pleasurable intimacy could look like
SENSATE FOCUS
What is sensate focus and how does it work?
Sensate Focus was developed by Masters and Johnson in the 1960s and remains one of the most widely used, well-researched, and evidence-based interventions in sex therapy.
Sensate Focus is a structured therapeutic protocol consisting of ten progressive stages of experiential exercises. Using non-demand touch and the principles of mindfulness, the protocol is designed to reduce performance anxiety, increase awareness of present-moment sensory experience, and facilitate the gradual development of comfort, communication, and sexual intimacy. Progression through the stages is individualized, allowing couples to integrate each stage before moving to the next.
Common concerns addressed by sensate focus
Sensate Focus is used to treat a wide range of sexual and intimacy concerns. It is commonly recommended for differences in desire, sexual avoidance, anxiety related to physical intimacy, performance anxiety, painful sex, erectile difficulties, and orgasm concerns. It can also support couples in rebuilding trust after betrayal, navigating the effects of medical conditions or life transitions, and strengthening emotional and sexual connection.
Ready to Begin?
Taking the first step can feel vulnerable, but you don't have to navigate this alone. If you're ready to better understand your relationship, rebuild intimacy, and create new experiences of emotional and physical connection together, I'd be honored to support you.
I offer couples therapy in Salt Lake City and online for clients in Utah. If this resonates, I invite you to reach out to schedule a free 15-minute consultation.
