“Why Are We Talking About This Instead Of Sex?”

Sex therapy is mostly about therapy, not sex
Over half of the people who come to see me for an initial session are interested in changing their sex life. They’ve made the difficult leap of talking to a stranger about it.
I always start with straightforward questions (about age, kids, hobbies, and so on). Then I ask what they’d like from therapy, and they tell me their sexual situation. I ask a few questions about it (“How long have you been distressed?” “Is it like this when you masturbate?” “Have you spoken to your doc about this?” etc.).
And then, I want to talk about other things, depending on the patient: guilt, shame, and anger; body image; the nature of their current (or previous) relationship; and depression or anxiety, to name a few.
“Why Are We Talking About This Instead Of Sex?”