Sex Therapy for Couples in Mar Vista and Los Angeles
Sex therapy is a specialized form of psychotherapy that focuses on addressing and resolving sexual concerns and issues. It is provided by trained and licensed therapists who are sensitive to the emotional, psychological, and relational aspects of human sexuality.
Individuals or couples seeking sex therapy may experience challenges such as sexual dysfunction, communication issues, differing sexual desires, or the impact of past traumas on their sexual well-being. The sex therapist creates a safe and non-judgmental space for clients to explore their concerns openly. Treatment may involve a combination of counseling, education, and practical exercises designed to enhance communication, intimacy, and overall sexual satisfaction.
Sex therapy is not solely focused on physical aspects but also considers the emotional and relational components of sexuality. The goal is to help individuals and couples develop a healthier and more fulfilling sexual life, fostering improved well-being and satisfaction in both personal and interpersonal realms.
What Sex Therapy for Couples Involves
Sex therapy is a specialised form of psychotherapy focused on sexual concerns within a relationship. It is talk-based. There is no physical examination and no contact of any kind — a point worth stating plainly, because the misconception keeps couples from calling.
Most couples who come in are not in a crisis about sex. They are in a stalemate about it. One person wants more, or wants something different, or has stopped asking. The other feels evaluated, or exhausted, or guilty. Both have concluded, separately, that raising it will make things worse.
Common starting points
Desire discrepancy that has hardened into a scoreboard. Sex that stopped after a baby, a diagnosis, a medication change or a menopause transition. Erectile or orgasm difficulty and the anxiety that grows around it. Pain. Rebuilding intimacy after an affair. Negotiating an opening of the relationship, or negotiating the end of one. Mismatched interest in kink.
Why a certified sex therapist matters
General couples work often treats sex as a symptom of communication. Sometimes it is. Often it is also its own subject with its own physiology, history and vocabulary. A certified sex therapist can hold both, so the couple does not have to translate their sexual life into a more comfortable topic before it can be discussed.
Related: sex and sexuality for individual work, and couples therapy for the wider relationship.
Getting started
Consultations are free and run 15 to 40 minutes. Call (310) 927-1755, email michael@michaelneetherapy.com, or use the contact page. The office is at 13101 W. Washington Boulevard, Suite 454, Los Angeles, CA 90066, in Mar Vista near the Culver City line, and telehealth is available anywhere in California.