The Great Collaborative “Niche”
SWI Board Member S. David Hall speaks about the collaborative nature of sex therapy
If I am being completely honest, when I was a kid I did not aspire to one day grow up and become a sex therapist. But become one I did, and I’m very grateful for that. I have had the privilege to sit with individuals, couples, and families, and I’ve been able to be present with them to offer guidance and encouragement as they are navigating areas of the complex intersections of their emotions, expectations, physiology, and even their faith.
Also, as a graduate student, when I first decided to engage in sex therapy specialty training, I did not do so in the expectation that it would make me rich. At the time (and still to this day), I considered the work more in the way of a calling. But that being said, I have not lacked for clients or referral partners to build and maintain a sex therapy caseload. More so than many other psychotherapy niches, sex therapy is an excellent specialization for those therapists who are really interested in collaborative work with other professionals, as well as developing the referral relationships that these collaborations naturally bring. Three particular professional groups that are excellent for collaboration/referral for practicing sex therapists are couples therapist, physicians, and pastors.
Personally, I am trained and licensed as a marriage and family therapist and I work with many couples whose presenting issues are not sex therapy focused. But I’ve worked with many other couples therapists who are not sex therapy trained, and find themselves needing someone like me for adjunct treatment and support of the couples with whom they are working. This has been a great niche for me for years, even as I have had teaching and administrative commitments that have caused me to keep my psychotherapy caseload minimal.
Working as an adjunctive therapist in partnership with the primary couples therapist requires making sure there are clear treatment boundaries and expectations as well as appropriate communication between myself and the primary couples therapist. I’m able to step into the situation with the couple in more surgical ways that can mean that treatment is shorter in duration, or sessions may be more or less frequent as they are interspersed with the couples work with their primary therapist.
Of course, this arrangement does not always go perfectly and sometimes the complexity of the underlying issues that emerge as I am working with a couple in sex therapy may require reconsideration of what collaborative treatment should look like. Even so, it’s been my blessing that these relationships with other couples therapists are professionally supportive between us and for our clients. And even when I don’t have the availability in my schedule, I’m always honored when a couples therapist reaches out to me for assistance or support in their work with clients.
The second referral/collaborative relationship that I want to highlight is with physicians. Often well trained sex therapists are more cued in to the dynamics of physiology and biology and how these functions may present in contrast to another psychotherapist without the same training. Having done significant research myself in sex therapy interventions for male sexual dysfunctions, I have found an ease in having collaborative conversations with many Urologists in my local area. Sometimes the medical jargon does get beyond me (and I try to fess up to it when I am not fully understanding what the physician is saying to me), but generally physicians appreciate that I understand that sexual functioning operates in the physiological as well as the psychological.
And finally, I want to highlight the collaborative potential with pastors and others in vocational ministry. This is where I’m so well served by not only being trained as a sex therapist, but as a sex therapist with a Christian theological underpinning to how I see sexuality and my clients. Many people in ministry feel so overwhelmed and attacked regarding areas of sexuality. I have generally found them so eager for insight and support. Beyond just somebody that they feel comfortable sending one of their flock to, over the years I have found that I am functioning more and more as a consultant and educator for people in ministry as they are trying to navigate areas of deep complexity. For this, I am so very grateful for not only the excellence of my sex therapy education with ISW, but also the intertwining of God’s heart for sexuality that was so clearly given to me by those who provided my training.
S. David Hall, PsyD is licensed as a marriage and family therapist and mental health counselor in Tennessee. He is also a certified sex therapist (CST) under the American Board for Christian Sex Therapists. His work and research in sex therapy and sexology has focused on male dysfunctions, addiction/compulsions, dynamics of technology and social media, and brief psychotherapy interventions. He currently serves as the Clinic Director of Haven Counseling Center in Knoxville, TN.
He can be found at www.davidhallpsych.com
