For couples and family therapists
When one partner’s sexual concern needs its own room
I’m Joseph Maron, MS, LPC, a sex therapist seeing Pennsylvania adults by telehealth. Sometimes one partner needs individual space to work on a sexual concern while couples therapy continues. I see that partner individually, so they can bring what they learn back to the work with you.
Immediate openings
Telehealth only · Adults in Pennsylvania · $195 per 50-minute session · Private pay, superbills provided
The consult is for your client. The call button is for you. More practice details
Consider a referral when your client…
Has a sexual concern that keeps stalling the work.
Low desire, for example, can come from one partner’s own experience as well as from the relationship.
Is stuck in a desire difference with their partner.
Clinical guidance on desire differences includes exploring each partner’s own sexual needs.
Has erection, orgasm, arousal, or pain concerns.
Individual sessions give these concerns focused time.
Has trauma that shows up in sex or touch.
Trauma is one of several factors that can quietly suppress desire.
Is exploring identity, kink, or relationship structure.
Kink and consensual non-monogamy are ordinary parts of sex therapy here, and I don’t assume a relationship structure.
Can’t yet say it in a joint session.
Individual sessions can help a partner prepare to raise it there.
Common reasons to refer
- Low or changed desire
- Desire differences
- Erection, orgasm, or ejaculation
- Pain with sex, alongside medical care
- Trauma that affects sex and touch
- Kink, non-monogamy, identity
- Changes with gender-affirming care
Tandem care, not a hand-off
Your couples work
The couples therapy stays with you: the relationship itself, conflict, attachment, communication, and relationship decisions.
Sex therapy
I work with one partner on their own sexual concerns, trauma and sex, identity and kink, and getting ready to bring things into your joint sessions.
Confidentiality: sessions with your client are confidential; I help them decide what to share, and how.
A first conversation can simply be about whether a referral might fit. Please wait to send records or identifying details until we’ve set up a secure way to share them.
To refer
Your client requests a free 15-minute consult at JosephMaronLPC.com. Or call 215-804-9315. Want to talk a referral through first? Call me at the same number.
Telehealth only · Adults in Pennsylvania · Private pay, superbills provided
Tell your client: sex therapy is talk therapy. No touch, no exam.
Doctoral student in human sexuality, Widener University · Certificate in Affirmative Therapy for Transgender Communities · ADHD-CCSP · LGBTQ+ affirming
A referral does not confirm availability or establish a treatment relationship. This practice is not an emergency or crisis service. Call or text 988, or call 911 for an emergency.
Handouts to print or share
One page for you and a two-sided handout for your client. The client handout is also a web page, so you can send a link instead of printing.
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For people in couples therapy
When sex is the hardest thing to talk about
Couples therapy works on the relationship. Individual sex therapy gives you space to work on your own sexual concerns, alongside it.
Why it fits
In a five-year follow-up of couple therapy (different-sex couples), sexual gains faded; the authors suggest adding sex therapy techniques.1 Psychological treatments, including CBT and mindfulness-based approaches, improve sexual function and sexual distress compared with no treatment in controlled trials.2 No study has tested this concurrent model directly.
1 Rothman et al., J Sex Marital Ther 2021. 2 Frühauf et al., Arch Sex Behav 2013; Liu et al., J Sex Med 2026.
What I tell your client about sex therapy
Sex therapy is talk therapy about sexuality, intimacy, and relationships. There is no touch, no exam, and nothing physical happens in sessions.
Sex therapy does not replace medical care or the care you provide. New or sudden changes deserve a medical check. If a medication seems to be affecting someone’s sex life, I ask them to talk with their prescriber before making changes.