Sex Therapy in Toronto
Doctoral-Level Psychological Care
Sex therapy at Laksman Doell Psychology is delivered by doctoral-level registered psychologists, both in person at our office in the Annex neighbourhood of Toronto and virtually across Ontario.
What Sex Therapy Looks Like
“Sexual wellbeing is a part of psychological health, and people deserve to talk about it with someone who has the actual training to help.”
Many people find it awkward to talk about sex, and it is not uncommon for many of us to avoid the conversation altogether. We aren’t taught how to talk about sex, nor are we told that it is healthy and important to do so. When you add stigma, shame, outdated messages about sex, and unrealistic expectations, to the lack of familiarity with these types of conversations, then it is no wonder that so many people stay silent.
Talking about sex does not have to mean that there is a problem. Open communication is one of the most reliable ways to maintain and deepen sexual satisfaction. If these conversations feel hard, then that is exactly when professional support may be helpful.
Sex therapy is rarely just about sex. It is about trust, safety, communication, identity, our body, our relationships, and what it means to both want and to be wanted. The work covers differences in desire, arousal, pleasure, intimacy, the impact of trauma or illness on sexuality, sexual identity, exploration of fantasy and kink, and the recovery of intimacy after relational injury or after years of disconnection. Sometimes the conversations that need to happen first are not about sex at all. They are about what got in the way of you being able to talk about sex in the first place.
Sex therapy may focus on areas of sexual concern or dysfunction, or on areas of sexual health and exploration. At Laksman Doell Psychology, our depth of experience in health psychology also means that we can work with the intersection of sexuality and serious illness, particularly in relation to cancer survivorship, where the changes to our body, the impacts of treatment, and shifting relationship dynamics, often add layers that many sex therapists are not experienced with.
You may not be sure what you need, but something brought you here…
- You and the person you love have stopped talking about sex and intimacy. Or perhaps you never started. The reasons are layered. The longer the silence has gone, the harder it has become to break, and the lonelier it has become inside the relationship.
- Illness, treatment, surgery, or a major life change has shifted your sexuality. Your body feels different. Your desire is different. The scripts that you used to use no longer work, and no one in the medical system has helped you to write new ones.
- You are an individual who wants to understand your own sexuality, your desire, your history, your body, and what you actually want. You want a space that is safe, informed, and curious, with a clinician who has the actual training to help.
The sex therapy presentations that we treat:
At Laksman Doell Psychology, we provide sex therapy for individuals and for couples who are looking to understand themselves, their relationships, their desires, their concerns, and the barriers to their sexual wellbeing.
Our doctoral-level psychologists provide sex therapy to address a number of different areas of concern, including:
Communication About Sex and Intimacy
We understand that it can feel awkward or embarrassing to talk about sex, and that many individuals have been raised to believe that this is something that should not be talked about. That said, we also know that when we don’t talk about things, then this contributes to the experience of anxiety, misunderstanding, confusion, and a sense of being alone. We can’t overcome the things that we can’t even speak of, and topics related to discrepancies in sexual desire or preferences deserve a safe space to be addressed.
Sexual Pain and Dysfunction
There is often a complex interrelationship between our psychological and sexual health. The experiences that we have had, including past trauma or negative sexual experiences, and the manner in which we talk to ourselves about these experiences, can play a significant role in the experience of sexual pain such as vaginismus and vulvodynia, or the experience of performance issues such as erectile dysfunction.
Sex After Illness
The experience of significant or chronic illness can have a large impact on our sexual health. Assumptions about how sex should work, paired with grief, fatigue, treatment side effects, or new physical realities, can leave individuals and couples feeling stuck. The path forward is rarely about going back to how things used to be. It is about building something new, together, with patience, flexibility, and creativity.
Women’s Sexual Health
Women’s sexual health has historically been overlooked, and has extra layers of complexity that deserve to be addressed. Whether the conversations that need to be had have to do with finding one’s own sexuality amidst pathologizing cultural messages, the shifts that occur in one’s body and role expectations after childbirth, or the changes that often accompany perimenopause and menopause, they require a space that is both safe and understanding.
Kink
Talking about kink often involves added layers of vulnerability. Because of the myths, misperceptions, and stigma around less conventional sexual desires, the fear of judgement and rejection often looms large. Sometimes individuals are looking for a safe space to talk openly about their desires with a trusted professional. Sometimes, they are looking for a safe space to talk collaboratively with their partner about what these desires mean for them as a couple. In either case, that space needs to be able to balance trust, openness, and understanding.
Intimate Relationships Without Sex
There is no reason that you can’t still feel physically close to your partner if you aren’t having sex. Kissing, hugging, cuddling, or holding hands are forms of intimacy that are especially important to some of us when sex is off the table. Physical touch releases oxytocin, often called the love hormone, which deepens trust and connection. It is also linked to lower stress and to real physical relief. Naming that out loud can sometimes take the pressure off, and can let us lean into other forms of closeness that matter.
Treatment that starts with understanding you.
At Laksman Doell Psychology, our work related to sex therapy is led by doctoral-level psychologists with specialist training, and it is grounded in the same evidence-based, clinically rigorous approach that runs through every part of our practice. We do not bring shame into the room. We bring skill.
We recognize that these are sometimes the most unfamiliar and difficult conversations for people to have and so we always start from a place of acceptance, openness and curiosity. It is important to us that every individual and couple who sits across from us is able to trust that the psychologist with whom they are working has the knowledge and skill to help them. Initial sessions are framed to help guide conversations and to allow for the development of a comprehensive understanding of who you are and what you are wanting to work on.
Based on our shared formulation, sex therapy then involves developing a collaborative treatment plan that often integrates several evidence-based approaches. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can help us to examine and to shift the beliefs that are getting in the way of our ability to have open conversations, or those that might be interfering with our sexual function or pleasure. Motivational Interviewing (MI) can help us to address the ambivalence about having these conversations in the first place. Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) can help us to rebuild the emotional connection that allows us to have vulnerable conversations and to rebuild trust and intimacy with our sexual partner(s). Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) can be particularly helpful when self-criticism or internalized stigma are getting in the way of self-acceptance.
Trauma-informed approaches cut across all of the above, and allow for the space to recognize how our past experiences may have left an indelible mark on our current experience of our sexuality.
Specialist training.
Private practice access.
Sex therapy at Laksman Doell Psychology is delivered by doctoral-level psychologists with specialist training in this area. Several team members also hold expertise in the intersection of sexuality and serious illness, including cancer and chronic pain, and bring health psychology depth that is rare to find in sex therapy treatment within private practice in Canada. Our team has trained at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, The Allan Memorial Institute for Sex and Couple Therapy Services in Montreal, The University of Guelph Intensive Sex Therapy Training Program, Toronto General, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the Nova Scotia Health Authority, Alberta Health Services, North York General, and Cleveland Clinic Canada.
We are here for the conversations that feel too awkward and too intimate to have with almost anyone else. The conversations about desire and pleasure, about conflict and disappointment, about intimacy and disconnection, and about everything in between.
Every clinician is a doctoral-level psychologist, who is registered with, or working toward registration with, the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO). Sessions are delivered in person at 27 Prince Arthur Avenue in the Annex neighbourhood of Toronto, or virtually across Ontario via PHIPA-compliant video. No referral required.
Ready to take the next step?
Life can be complicated, finding support shouldn’t be. At Laksman Doell, we take that seriously.
- No referral required
- Response within one business day
- In-person Toronto · Virtual Ontario-wide
- PHIPA-compliant · Confidential
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