What is Couple Therapy?
Couple therapy helps partners, married or not, navigate their way through challenges and conflicts.  Many couples are facing communication difficulties, conflicts, life transitions, sex and intimacy issues, infidelity, and parenting issues.  They are often facing tough choices and find these choices difficult to face.  Couple therapy helps couples talk about difficult issues that are causing problems - and to do it with honesty, integrity and respect.  Couple therapy aims at helping couples stay engaged and to function as mature adults in the relationship.  However, there are times when partners need a place to discuss whether the relationship should continue or end.  This can also be done in couple therapy.  Couple therapy can be short term if a couple is engaged, consistent with therapy, and willing to honestly assess their limitations as individuals.   In the first session, couples will get an opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings about the presenting problems, along with some history and background about the relationship.  Recommendations and treatment goals will be made at the end of the first session.The first session is also an opportunity for the couple to see if the therapist is a "good fit," and vice-versa.

What is Sex Therapy?
Sex therapy is when a couple seeks help for a sexual issue or difficulty.  This can be an issue of low sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, painful intercourse, premature ejaculation, sex that's become routine/unexciting, anxiety about sexual performance, to name just a few issues.  Individuals can also seek sex therapy for these issues.  However, it is usually best practice, if in a couple, the individual and the partner seek sex therapy together.  Sometimes this is not possible and an individual can be seen. When a couple seeks sex therapy, it is often difficult and unnecessary to separate couple therapy and sexual issues. When there are problems in a relationship, sex and intimacy often suffer, and vice-versa.  At the first session a couple or individual can expect to discuss the presenting issue, giving history and background about the problem and the relationship.  Treatment goals and recommendations are usually discussed at the end of the first session.