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Sexual Health for Couples through Therapy


An Ottawa Couple smiling during sexual health counselling
Sex is a private matter that we often don’t talk about — both within the couple and outside the relationship. It’s one of the most intimate moments that couples share, and as such, it is often a highly emotional topic to broach. Nevertheless, many couples experience difficulties expressing sexual desires, in communicating about sex, and fostering sexual intimacy. Not only do they need to discuss it with their partner, but the should also seek support to navigate these challenges for a more positive outcome.
This is where therapy for sexual health can be extremely helpful for a couple who is struggling with sexual matters.In and of itself, therapy can help communication between you and your partner. This is more important for fostering intimacy than the act of sex itself. If you can’t properly communicate your wants and desires, then they are less likely to be fulfilled and you can be left disappointed. Like with all forms of communication-based therapies, sexual health counselling is built on trust, openness and receptiveness.

Improving Sexual Health through Counselling

a couple struggling with their sexual health
People can have issues surrounding therapy for sexual health due to a number of reasons, ranging from early childhood experiences, to physical problems that affect sex drive, to long-term psychological wounds arising from sexual abuse. These issues are normal and experienced by many people, but they can put a significant amount of strain on a relationship when they interfere with a healthy sex life. With the help of an experienced Ottawa therapist who is trained in sexual health, the problem can be identified and fixed.

Finding, Targeting, and Fixing the Root Issues

As previously mentioned, sexual health issues can arise due to physical problems, childhood experiences, traumatic sexual experiences and more. However, it’s not these things specifically that can impact sexual health, but the emotions that are tied to these issues, and how they are linked to sex for the individual. Often, the reasons that cause sexual health issues for people cause them to have negative feelings of anxiety, shame, fear, anger, or sadness. When these kinds of emotions are associated with sex, it becomes incredibly difficult to communicate openly about sex, and nearly impossible to have a healthy sex life. Because communicating openly and honestly about these issues is difficult, it often doesn’t happen, leading to added stress in the relationship, reduced trust between partners, and a lower level of intimacy. Sexual health therapy starts by helping to facilitate this communication and help partners get a better understanding about each other’s sexual health. From there, we can develop strategies to help them work through these issues together.

Don’t let feelings of shame, inadequacy or anger keep you from having a healthy and fulfilling sex life. If you want help, Capital Choice Counselling can put you in touch with some of the best sexual health experts in the country.

Is sexual health counselling for me/us?

  • I’m no longer interested in sex with my partner.
  • We have different sex drives.
  • I’m fantasizing about sex outside the relationship.
  • It hasn’t been the same since the kids were born.
  • I find sex painful.
  • I’m addicted to pornography.
  • I can’t talk about sex with my partner.
  • I can’t have or give my partner and orgasm.

 

If this sounds like you, Contact one of our Ottawa-based sexual health counsellors using the tool to the right.

 

Couple, relationship and marriage therapies, including therapy for sexual health, are often covered by your health insurance plan.

 

Related Therapies

Anxiety Counselling

Sexual Abuse

Trauma and PTSD

Counsellors Specializing in Sexual Issues

Frequently Asked Questions

The only difference between a sexual health therapist and any other therapist is the specialized knowledge they possess about sexual health. Usually, a sexual health therapist will be trained as a family or marriage counsellor first, and then move into a specialty in sexual health.
No, you don’t. Sexual health is a personal matter and while discovering sexual health issues is more likely to happen while in a relationship, it is still something that can impact your life if you are single and you should seek help for it so you are better prepared for your next relationship.
It depends on the situation. If there are issues that arise between partners, then they should both be present to address them. If there are long-term issues that have been affecting someone long before they started a relationship with their current partner, then it may be more appropriate for that person to attend the session alone. The therapist will want to meet with both partners during the first session, and then will recommend the best course of action from there.
Yes, we can! We often work with other kinds of healthcare professionals to achieve a desired outcome with our treatments. If there is some sort of medical issue which is affecting your sexual health, we will direct you to the appropriate person for consultation and treatment.