Psychosexual Therapy – Sex Matters

There are many different components to physical and emotional wellbeing – sexual health is one of those that is often overlooked. 43% of women and 31% of men report experiencing some kind of sexual dysfunction, and yet this is a topic that we are all too reluctant to talk about. Psychosexual therapy can be a key that unlocks the door to more positive sexual health, overcoming issues from the past and creating opportunities to experience this vital human function in new ways.

What is psychosexual therapy?

It’s a form of psychological counselling that focuses on physical problems and the emotional issues that could potentially be contributing to them. For example, if one person in a couple is struggling with performance anxiety, this could potentially form the basis for a conversation about what that means, and how it arises, followed by establishing more open lines of communication to talk about sexual wants and needs. Psychosexual therapy can use a variety of different techniques to help improve sexual experience, including mindfulness training that helps to block out distracting or troubling thoughts and focus on the present, physical experience.

Where is psychosexual therapy useful?

This type of therapy can make a difference to anyone who is struggling with sexual experience.
These are some of the situations where it is commonly used:

• Personal conflict issues around sexuality. For example, where there has been trauma or assault.
• Sexual problems arising within a relationship. For example, one partner feels bored with their sex life or there has been infidelity by one person that has triggered problems.
• Compulsive Sexual Behaviours. These are often accompanied by challenging feelings such as shame and guilt and addressing the personal emotional experience behind these behaviours can be key.
• Personal coping issues around sexuality. For example, one person has just been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease and doesn’t know how to tell their partner.

Not every type of problem that arises around sex can be dealt with in the therapy room – if there is a physical issue, for example, you can expect your therapist to refer you to a medical doctor.

Psychosexual therapy for couples and individuals

There is no requirement to be in a couple in order to access psychosexual therapy – if the issues that are coming up are being experienced alone then individual sessions will tend to offer the most valuable progress. Therapists can work with individuals, couples and also start with an individual and then bring a partner into the room at the right point. Where psychosexual therapy is being used for people in relationships it can offer a number of key benefits. These include enhancing the sexual and emotional connection between two people, as well as the understanding of sexual wants and needs, sensuality and fantasy exploration. From sexual boredom to mismatched libidos or coping with the aftermath of infidelity it has the potential to make a big difference.

Sex matters to humans and psychosexual therapy is a way to ensure that your sex life gets the attention and investment it deserves.

The Grove has a strong reputation for running high-quality couples and relationship CPD courses, many of which are externally accredited. Our CPD programme is expanding in 2022 with more courses and more intakes, giving more choice and opportunity to learn from the experts from our centre of excellence.