Thank you to Another Way Women’s Foundation for helping us provide this service.

Who can apply?

• The offer is for women, inclusive of trans women and nonbinary individuals
• Partners of any gender are welcome to attend sessions
• The offer is for individuals with an annual income of £25,000 or under
• Sessions will be delivered online only

 

What is sex therapy?

Nearly everyone will encounter difficulties in their sex life at some point. Sex therapy can help relieve some of the anxiety you may have around discussing issues related to sex and intimacy.

Issues in a person’s sex life can be physical, psychological, or a combination of both. They can be impacted by and affect your relationships. For this reason, if you have a partner(s), we encourage you to attend with them. However, sessions can be attended by individuals alone.

Some of the issues we work through in sex therapy include:

• loss of desire
• body image issues
• painful sex
• having a different sex drive to your partner
• difficulties having an orgasm

But these are not the only problems we can help address. Click below to read more about sex therapy.

More on sex therapy

 

A story from one couple we’ve worked with…

Sally, 45, had a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction after being diagnosed with cancer. The treatment resulted in early menopause, with Sally regularly experiencing vaginal dryness and loss of libido. Sally said this caused her to lose a lot of confidence in her body.

Sally’s husband, Wayne, said that since Sally’s breast cancer, they had attempted sex a few times, but it hadn’t led to good experiences. Wayne said he was scared of causing Sally pain and didn’t want her to feel pressure. Sally said that penetration made her sore, and this caused a loss of desire for sex.

We began Sally and Wayne’s sex therapy journey with mindfulness and self-exploration exercises designed to improve body confidence. We helped them remove the pressure of “sex as a goal”, which freed them up to learn more about themselves and each other. Through talking together with their therapist and by doing “homework” exercises, they gradually rebuilt their intimacy and sex life.

Sally said it became surprisingly easy to talk openly and honestly with their sex therapist once the couple got started. Sally and Wayne both said they have been able to explore their connection together, and now have a fuller, more satisfying sex life — just a few months after starting sex therapy.*

*names and some details have been changed to ensure confidentiality