Sex therapy – it’s something often joked about in movies and on TV but rarely discussed as a way to improve our mental health and sexual wellness. Dr. Ruth Westheimer – the famous sex therapist – inspired many young professionals to help individuals and couples keep their sex lives alive, rather than putting it off on the sideline.
Yet, some people only seek out a sex therapist when they believe it’s the last-ditch effort to reignite a floundering relationship. But, why wait? A sex therapist can help your relationship by helping you both through your intimacy issues and might even help spice up your relationship.
The truth is that a sex therapist like myself can have a positive impact on almost anyone’s sexual well-being – as long as they put in the work. Not a believer, yet?
Here Are 4 Ways A Sex Therapist Can Help Your Relationship
Increase Your Sexual Awareness
Self confidence plays a huge role in how comfortable you are with your body. We can lose touch with the sexual side of ourselves when our confidence is shaken over time. One of the biggest benefits of sex therapy comes in the form of a confidence boost. Sex therapists often assign fun homework assignments like:
- Reviewing educational materials
- Practicing communication skills
- Exploring touch without (or with) a partner
As you come face-to-face with sexual challenges, you are actually learning new skills and becoming more sexually aware. You start to recognize how you like to be touched, what turns you on, and how your body reacts. The more you practice, the bigger the confidence boost.
Remove Sexual Barriers
Sex isn’t easily understood by most people and our learning curves are all different. Your culture, education, medical history, and even your confidence level can create barriers to sexual pleasure. Sometimes a sexual barrier comes in the form of sexual dysfunctions like erectile dysfunction (ED) or Inhibited Sexual Desire (ISD). Other times it can stem from medical issues like vaginismus. But, a sexual barrier is really a blocker (even a mental block) that keeps you from enjoying sex. Sex therapy can help with all of this.
If your sexual barrier comes from misconceptions and misinformation about sex, your sex therapist will help correct the information you received while giving you a safe space to ask questions you have about sex. Sexual blockers that come from sexual dysfunctions like ED or ISD often require a thorough evaluation from a sex therapist who can help figure out the psychological and relational causes behind the dysfunction while working toward a solution of a fulfilled sex life.
You may learn mindfulness techniques to help you focus your attention on your pleasure while also learning to manage stress so you both enjoy your sexual experiences together.
Improve Your Communication
Talking with your partner about sex isn’t a skill that comes naturally to everyone. Even in a relationship, people can be closed off when it comes to speaking about sex. Communication is intrinsically linked to self-confidence – the more confident you are, the easier it is to talk things out. And the more you communicate your sexual preferences to your partner, the better your sex life becomes.
Add this into the mix: when you open up the communication channels to talk about sexual intimacy with your partner, you also enhance your communication about other relationship-factors. It can make it easier to talk about areas of the relationship that are negatively (or positively!) affecting you.
But you need a starting point and some couples need guidance in learning how to communicate with each other. Sex therapy provides you with a safe and comfortable space to provide each other with feedback while also learning how to communicate with each other in a way that resonates with your partner.
Increase Intimacy
There are a few types of intimacy that help create a healthy relationship:
- Physical
- Emotional
- Intellectual
- Spiritual
- Social
When you are intellectually intimate with your partner, you are able to share your thoughts and opinions – even if they have differing viewpoints. But, in a relationship, most couple’s therapists will focus on emotional intimacy. In sex therapy, you will likely focus on increasing physical and emotional intimacy. Fostering emotional intimacy opens up your relationship for a stronger connection and a better sex life. When you build emotional intimacy into your relationship, it creates a foundation for a stronger sex life.
But physical and emotional intimacy aren’t intuitive to everyone. Some people have a harder time allowing themselves to be vulnerable which can hinder intimacy. A sex therapist can work with those individuals and couples underlying issues that create intimacy barriers. When you start to work through these issues together, you are working as a team and creating a united front. This helps lay a stronger foundation for increasing intimacy.
Sex Therapy Can Help
Unsurprisingly, there are many elements of couples therapy woven into sex therapy like working through communication issues, resolving emotional intimacy barriers, and helping couples work on bettering themselves together. But working with a sex therapist takes it to a deeper level by helping couples connect with themselves and each other sexually. You both deserve to enjoy your sexual experiences with each other! If you’re not, it’s time to start working on your sexual wellness together in sex therapy.
Improve Your Sexual Well-being
Growing as a person also includes tackling some tough topics like sex. Work with a sex therapist in Houston, Texas to overcome obstacles that are preventing you from having a fulfilling sex life.
