Looking for a great sex therapist in Nashville?
The Gaia Center has you covered.
Sexual challenges are among the most frequent sources of conflict in relationships, yet surprisingly few therapists have specialized training or knowledge in how to effectively support their clients with these issues.
This unfortunately leads to people either barely talking at all about their sexual lives in therapy, or therapists giving unhelpful (even if well-intentioned) advice that may leave their client feeling just as stuck and frustrated as before, or even moreso.
For example, a lot of couples counselors work under the false assumption that “if you fix the relationship issues, the sex will fix itself.” Not only is this a myth, but it also results in couples struggling with sex for WAY longer than they need to, and often feeling like their relationship (which might otherwise be pretty great) is doomed.
Problems with sex are way more common than you might think— and if that’s where you find yourself today, it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Below are some of the sexual challenges we can help with…
Low sexual desire or desire discrepancy (one or both partners not having interest in sex)
Difficulty connecting to sexuality due to past sexual trauma and/or religious trauma
Vaginismus or other vaginal pain issues
Erectile unpredictability (commonly known as erectile dysfunction)
Premature ejaculation and delayed ejaculation
Body image and attention issues
Orgasm issues
Recovering emotionally and sexually after an affair
Out-of-Control Sexual Behavior (check out this great blog post by another sex therapist on why we use this language instead of “sex addiction”)
Exploring sexual preferences & identities (i.e. exploring Kink culture, navigating coming out as queer)
Navigating non-traditional relationship structures (i.e. consensual non-monogamy / poly - read more here about ENM/poly relationship therapy at The Gaia Center
Difficulty communicating with partner(s) about sex
Depending on your specific challenge and goal, sex therapy can be offered 1on1, or in the context of couples/relationship therapy (often the latter is more effective for folks who are currently in a relationship).
Why choose The Gaia Center for sex therapy?
As a sex-positive practice, we approach our clients’ challenges through a lens of optimizing sexual health, rather than being gatekeepers or evaluators of what is “healthy/unhealthy” or “functional/dysfunctional” on their behalf. If it’s consensual and it’s pleasurable, we are here for it!
We also firmly believe in multidisciplinary treatment, as almost any sexual challenge will benefit from a combined psychological and physiological approach. We love collaborating with other providers as part of a cohesive treatment team to support our clients in getting better and making us obsolete. 🤗
The Gaia Center’s Clinical Director Valerie Martin completed extensive training and supervision to become a Certified Sex Therapist with AASECT (among a small handful in Nashville) and provides consultation and support for the other highly skilled sex therapists on our team.
