Clinical Training and Collaboration
“As sex therapists, we often help clients to overcome sexual dysfunction yet note that their enjoyment of sexual relations and, more strikingly, their sexual frequency remains underwhelming. Perhaps clients who present with low desire, low sexual frequency, and desire discrepancies know intuitively that they were seeking something more fulfilling, exciting, and meaningful than what predictable and reliable genital responses could have provided all along. If clients truly wish to experience `sex worth wanting’, therapists need to aim much higher than merely returning their clients to adequate physiological functioning.”
Kleinplatz, Paradis, Charest, et al. (2018)
Are you a therapist or clinician who works with individuals or couples distressed by low/no desire? Low/no sexual frequency? Couples distressed by sexual desire discrepancy? Are you interested in training to provide group therapy to enhance couples’ sexual intimacy? Our team offers training for clinicians working with sexual concerns based on our research on Optimal Sexual Experiences.
We are now planning our next sets of group therapy training and are available to set up additional trainings internationally. Each set involves participation over 2 periods of Sunday-Wednesday (early afternoon on Sunday to mid-afternoon on Wednesday, Eastern Time). Participation in both parts is required. All of our training is offered both virtually and in person.
These training programs meet the requirements for the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and for the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) and is approved for 30 continuing education credits. These CE credits may be applied toward AASECT Certification and renewal of certification. Completion of this program does not ensure or guarantee AASECT Certification. For further information please contact ce@aasect.org
Training sessions will be limited to the first 5 pairs of therapists who register. All group therapy sessions for couples are to be conducted by two licensed mental health professionals, therefore, we require that you and your co-therapist be trained in unison. Ideally, at least one of you has been trained in sex therapy and the other has training in group therapy. Ideally, both of you have training in couples’ therapy.
To begin the registration process, please an email to our Research Coordinator, Ms. Jessica Valade (lafr.jessica@gmail.com) indicating your name, your co-therapist’s name, and your contact information.
For more information, please contact Dr. Peggy J. Kleinplatz by phone at 613-563-0846 Monday – Friday, Noon-5:00 PM EST. Please direct email questions to our Research Coordinator, Ms. Jessica Valade (lafr.jessica@gmail.com). Please contact our Research Coordinator if you wish to be placed on our contact list.
“The goal of working with sexual problems in therapy is not to manage the problem but to make the space – and the relationship – just safe enough for the couple to take interpersonal and erotic risks together.”
Kleinplatz, Ménard, Paradis, Campbell, et al., (2013)
“The shift we are calling for here is from assessing and treating low desire or frequency to a focus on the quality of erotic intimacy, which seems to have resulted in our participants’ shift from dread to anticipation and longing. Couples sex therapy groups can help clients to explore themselves more deeply and to create the safety in their relationship(s) that is required to take the risks involved in deep self-revelation with one’s partner(s). In using this approach, we support clients in creating the conditions for extraordinary erotic intimacy such that sex becomes desirable.”
Kleinplatz, Paradis, Charest, et al. (2018)