Clinical Sexology & Psychosexual Psychotherapy

Clinical Sexology, often referred to as Psychosexual Psychotherapy, focuses on the assessment and treatment of sexual difficulties within a biopsychosocial framework. This includes presentations such as difficulties with desire, arousal, erection, ejaculation, orgasm, and pain, including vaginismus, dyspareunia, and other forms of pelvic pain or pain associated with penetration. It also includes work relating to sexual confidence, identity, and intimacy within relational contexts.

 

Work in this area may be undertaken with individuals or with intimate partners, and spans a wide range of sexual identities, relationship structures, and stages of the lifespan. Sexual concerns are understood not only in terms of dysfunction, but in relation to broader questions of meaning, identity, relational experience, and the development of a satisfying and sustainable sexual life.

 

Practice in this area involves working at the interface of medical and psychological understanding. Sexual difficulties are considered in relation to physiological processes, including hormonal, neurological, and medication-related factors, alongside psychological experiences such as anxiety, trauma, shame, and avoidance, and the relational dynamics in which these difficulties are expressed and maintained.

 

My approach draws on established psychosexual models, including behavioural and sensate focus-based interventions, alongside psychodynamic and attachment-informed perspectives. This allows for work that can move between structured, task-based interventions and more exploratory approaches, depending on the nature of the difficulty and the context in which it occurs. Alongside addressing specific difficulties, the work may also focus on enhancing sexual wellbeing, pleasure, and overall quality of life.

 

I have been involved in the teaching and development of psychosexual therapy for over a decade, contributing to professional training within this field. This reflects a specialist interest in the complexity of sexual functioning and the need for integrated, clinically informed approaches to assessment and treatment.

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