There are three ways to engage my services:
- A twelve-week intimacy behavioral therapy program designed for those looking to do in-depth work. *Each program and session offering are conducted in-person in New York City.
- A sixteen-week intimacy behavioral therapy program specifically designed to help those who are inexperienced, trauma survivors, as well as those who discover they need more sessions to fully accomplish their goals.
- Ongoing therapy sessions to continue to address long-term and emerging intimacy issues and needs.
Intimacy Behavioral Therapy™ (12 weeks)
The Intimacy Behavioral Therapy™ program consists of twelve, one-hour, in-person weekly sessions. During this process, if it is determined that we need more time to accomplish your goals, we continue as needed—one or more sessions at a time.
The first session is a one-hour meet/greet and clinical intake that focuses on your personal sexual history.
In the next three sessions you learn foundation-building body awareness exercises to establish a solid understanding of sensation focused touch and how to access deep breath from the diaphragm. These are the fundamental tools for strengthening the connection between the mind and body and they will be utilized throughout the following sessions as new skills are taught and practiced in a safe environment.
The breath practice progresses to nonsexual touch exercises, helping you become present and in the moment with the sensations you are experiencing while giving and receiving touch. We discover together what default tendencies arise, so that they can be gradually replaced with new behavior. Some examples of these are; the distress of performance anxiety, self consciousness, fear of judgement, and body image issues. How these affect your thoughts and feelings within your relationships is directly addressed. Gradually, once a firm foundation of using the tools has been established, we transition to more intimate touch interaction that directly addresses your specific issues. I call this application (in part) arousal navigation; developing the capacity to tolerate or “hang out in” the discomfort of varying levels of arousal. The overall goal is for you to overcome your challenges using these newfound skills with confidence, thereby gaining the ability to directly apply them to your intimate life.
Intimacy Behavioral Therapy™ (16 weeks)
This is the same program that is offered above – just four weeks longer. In this version I address specific issues related to those patients with little or no intimate experience, and trauma survivors – both of whom need more time to discover and integrate their bodies’ responses before advancing to the next level of engagement. The 16 week program includes additional educational/informational sessions. In addition, this extended program is also designed to address those sexual functioning problems treated in the twelve week program that need more time to be solved.
Ongoing Sessions
Ongoing sessions are offered to those who have completed either the 12 or 16 week program, and it is determined that continuing therapeutic support is necessary to achieved desired goals.