Some people experience difficulties with sex that can be difficult to talk about. Psychosexual therapy looks at people’s sexual life and development, exploring how someone’s emotional, psychological and physical state and experiences affect their sexual feelings and behaviours.
How we can help
We provide a talking therapy service that can help with a variety of sexual problems. We can help with:
What we are not able to offer services for
We are not able to offer services for the following, but have signposted to useful resources on the pages below:
If you are having relationship problems such as difficulty with communication, Relate provides relationship counselling.
How to access to psychosexual therapy
We can only offer psychosexual services to people living in areas covered by Oxfordshire County Council (find your local council on the GOV.UK website). If you live outside this area, please contact your local sexual health service instead.
Please book a telephone appointment. We can then arrange a referral for assessment with the psychosexual therapy service if appropriate.
Alternatively, you can ask your GP or practice nurse to refer you to the psychosexual therapy service. Please note, you cannot self-refer to this service – an appointment with sexual health or GP referral is necessary..
What to expect from psychosexual therapy
We provide a service with both medical and psychological expertise and can integrate these skills to help resolve people’s sexual problems. You will meet with an experienced clinician for a specialist assessment to determine what is likely to be most helpful for you. We provide short-term focused psychosexual therapy to individuals and couples.
The podcast below is a useful resource to help you understand what these types of therapies entail and what they can help with.
Considering Psychosexual Therapy – Apple Podcasts
In this podcast episode, two sex therapists – Kate Moyle, and Emma-Louise Boynton – discuss what psychosexual therapy is like. The podcast is also available on Spotify, Podyssey, Everand and IMDb.
Leaflets
These OUH leaflets may be recommended to read in conjunction with your psychosexual treatment:
- Topical lidocaine for vulval pain – Information for patients (pdf)
- Vaginal Trainer Exercises for Psychosexual Therapy – Information for patients (pdf)
- Pelvic Floor Awareness for Psychosexual Therapy – Information for men (pdf)
- Pelvic Floor Awareness for Psychosexual Therapy – Information for women (pdf)