One of the specializations you can find under the area of health therapy is sex therapy. Sex therapists concentrates in the field of mental health therapy with most of them first specialize in psychology, built up a career as a mental health counselor, marriage and family counselor or clinical social worker.
Characteristics
Sex therapists should be compassionate, organized and talented in building trusting relationships with their clientele. The latter characteristic is described as someone who can listen to clients who have serious and (more often than not) embarrassing dilemmas, and can offer empathy and compassion to them.
Many sex therapists work with the public, giving education and training to various groups of diverse individuals. If you want to succeed as both sex therapist and educator, you must know how to work on the areas of public relations and communication.
Certification and Licensing
To become a mental health therapist, one must have a Master or Doctoral Degree. Counselors, therapists and sociologists are all qualified to specialize in sex therapy.
You will also need to verify the licensing requirements in the state you plan to practice in. Once you accomplish these requirements, you will have to expand training in sexual counseling from accredited educational institutions. Certification may entail you to continue education in the area of sexology and passing the state examination.
Remember that requirements vary from state to state. In order to know further information, you can consult American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT).
Job Profile and Salary
Sex therapists offer counseling and assistance pertaining to sexual problems. This may involve intimacy counseling and helping with sexual problems between men and women. They help people who have problems in areas including erectile dysfunction, menopausal problems, lack of desire, painful sex, problems in orgasm, sex addiction, premature ejaculation and other ejaculation problems.
Moreover, sex therapists may also work with certain individuals who experienced traumatic sexual encounters (like rape victims) and those who view sex with shame, guilt and depression. Other sex therapists also have the opportunity to deal with self-esteem, relationship problems and emotions involving sex and marriage.
Sex therapists make an average of $49,270 to as much as $75,000 per year. Meanwhile, sex therapists who charge hourly fees make $12 to $36 per hour.