Can a sex therapist help me with relationship issues too?
While sex therapy is not for every relationship issue (Sometimes the core problem is really anxiety, depression, work stress, attachment issues or communication about other issues in the relationship), you’d be surprised how helpful a sex therapist can be.
Sex therapists are skilled at addressing sexual and relational concerns but also in dealing with matters that are specifically not directly about sex. For example, we are skilled at supporting asexuality as an identity, addressing common conflicts that are not sexual in nature, or making people feel comfortable who typically are embarrassed or unwilling to talk about a host of difficult matters including but not limited to sex. All sex therapists are ALSO all trained as psychotherapists and couples therapists before they become sex therapists, so often with a sex therapist, you can address both the psychological and sexual components of complex issues. And a sex therapist is best positioned (forgive the pun) to assess and treat matters that are sexual and relational.
In the end, psychotherapeutic relationships are complex. And while finding a good sex therapist may not be as difficult or as important as finding a good partner, there is a parallel process; not all sex therapists are the right fit for every person or couple. As a group we are competent providing a kind of a two-for-one double dip set of skills that is beneficial for addressing a wider range of relationship dynamics than others often are. However, the most important variable in successful therapy of any kind is still the therapeutic alliance itself. If you feel your therapist is competent, you are making progress, and you find you can talk about anything on your mind (and these are subjective perceptions located in the client) and you feel it just fits then you have a strong working therapeutic alliance. And if you can find a sex therapist, who is by implication also a psychotherapist, with whom you have a therapeutic alliance then you have the best we have to offer to support your sex life and relationship(s).
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