Sexual Health Institute · Transcend Training Institute
Post-graduate certification in
sex therapy and sexual health.
For registered psychologists, counsellors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists ready to integrate sexual health into clinical practice. Evidence-based. Trauma-informed. GSER-inclusive.
Why this training exists
Sexual health is one of the most common presenting concerns in clinical practice. Most clinicians have no formal training to address it.
Graduate programs in psychology, social work, and counselling devote, on average, fewer than three hours to human sexuality across their entire curriculum. Clinicians are left to acquire this knowledge informally through continuing education workshops, self-study, or simply by encountering clients whose needs exceed their preparation.
The result is widespread under-referral, missed diagnoses, and clients who leave appointments without the help they came for. Sexual dysfunction, pain, desire discrepancy, and the relational fallout of these concerns are not niche presentations. They are common, treatable, and consistently undertreated.
This program exists to give registered clinicians the knowledge base, clinical language, diagnostic fluency, and practical interventions to meet those presentations with competence and confidence.
The training gap
What competent sexual health practice actually requires.
Effective sex therapy is not a single skill. It draws on diagnostic knowledge, trauma fluency, relational theory, neuropsychology, anatomy, pharmacology, and cultural awareness, simultaneously, in session, with a client who may never have spoken about this to anyone before.
Most continuing education in this area offers fragments: a weekend workshop on sensate focus, a webinar on desire discrepancy. This program offers the complete clinical foundation, built sequentially, grounded in current research, and designed around how clinicians actually encounter these presentations.
The curriculum
Twelve modules.
Two sections.
The program is organized in two sequential sections followed by a consultation-based evaluation component. Section 1 builds the ethical and attitudinal foundation for clinical practice. Section 2 develops diagnostic and applied clinical competency. All modules are asynchronous, with live consultation components.
- 01Ethics and professional practiceScope of practice · boundaries · consent · regulatory standards
- 02Cultural influences on sexualityReligion · ethnicity · intersectionality · implicit clinical bias
- 03GSER — Gender, sexuality, eroticism, and relational diversityIdentity · orientation · erotic diversity · affirmative practice
- 04Trauma-informed treatmentACE framework · complex trauma · somatic awareness · clinical safety
- 05Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR)Values clarification · countertransference · reflective practice
- 06Developmental biology and socializationPsychosexual development · socialization theory · family-of-origin influences
- 07Anatomy, physiology, and neuropsychologySexual response · dual control model · arousal vs. desire
- 08Theory and researchMasters & Johnson · Kaplan · Basson · responsive desire
- 09Diagnostic criteriaDSM-5-TR · ICD-11 · FSIAD · FOD · GPPPD · ED · PE
- 10Assessment and history takingBiopsychosocial framework · validated measures · case conceptualization
- 11Collaboration and medical treatmentPelvic floor physio · SSRIs · hormonal therapy · referral pathways
- 12Techniques and interventionsSensate focus · CBT · ACT · mindfulness · couples modalities
Our approach
Evidence-based. Trauma-informed.
Built for working clinicians.
This is not a survey course. Every module is built around clinical competencies that translate directly to practice, the kind of knowledge that changes how you sit with a client the next day.
Evidence-based throughout
Grounded in peer-reviewed research, DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 diagnostic frameworks, and current sex therapy literature. Theoretical models are taught in critical context, including their limitations.
Trauma-informed by design
Safety, pacing, and nervous system awareness are embedded in the pedagogy, not added as a module. You learn through the same lens you will use clinically, with your most complex presentations.
GSER-inclusive throughout
Gender, sexuality, eroticism, and relational diversity are integrated across all twelve modules, not siloed. Affirmative clinical practice is a foundation, not a supplement.
Asynchronous and flexible
Designed for registered clinicians with full caseloads. Complete modules on your own schedule. Live consultation components are scheduled to accommodate working practitioners.
Interdisciplinary scope
Covers pelvic floor physiotherapy, pharmacological treatment, and medical referral pathways. You leave equipped to collaborate with medical providers, not just receive referrals from them.
Consultation-based and evaluated
The program includes cohort case consultation, peer review, and a final competency evaluation. Certification reflects demonstrated clinical knowledge, not just course completion.
What you will know how to treat
Across the full range of
sexual health presentations.
Graduates are equipped to assess and treat the full spectrum of sexual health concerns in individual and couples therapy, and to recognize when to refer and to whom. The CE short course library allows ongoing specialization in targeted areas after certification.
- Female sexual interest and arousal disorder (FSIAD)
- Low desire in long-term partnerships
- Responsive vs. spontaneous desire
- Desire discrepancy in couples
- Impact of medications on desire
- Female orgasmic disorder (FOD)
- Delayed ejaculation
- Anorgasmia, primary and secondary
- Pleasure education and sexual self-knowledge
- Vibrator use and habituation concerns
- Genito-pelvic pain and penetration disorder (GPPPD)
- Vaginismus and vestibulodynia
- Provoked and unprovoked vulvodynia
- Lichen sclerosus and dermatological conditions
- Dyspareunia, AFAB and AMAB
- Erectile dysfunction, psychogenic and organic
- Premature ejaculation
- Performance anxiety and anticipatory avoidance
- Post-treatment dysfunction (cancer, surgery)
- Medication-induced sexual dysfunction
- Couples and intimacy
- Infidelity and relationship recovery
- Compulsive sexual behaviour
- Porn use, clinical and subclinical presentations
- Poly, kink, and non-normative relational structures
- Perinatal and postpartum sexuality
- Sexuality across the lifespan and aging
- Disability and sexual health
- LGBTQ+ and GSER-diverse populations
- Trauma and sexual abuse survivors
Free clinical resources
For clinicians,
right now.
While the full program is in development, we are building a free clinical resource library. Available to all visitors, no account required.
Clinical framework
Arousal vs. desire: explaining the distinction to clients
A plain-language framework for the arousal-desire gap, including responsive desire and why spontaneous desire is not a prerequisite for satisfying sex.
Diagnostic reference
DSM-5-TR sexual dysfunction classifications at a glance
A concise clinical summary of AFAB and AMAB sexual dysfunction categories with primary/secondary and generalized/situational specifiers.
Clinical guide
Introducing sexual history-taking in any clinical context
How to open the conversation regardless of your specialty. Includes sample phrasing and a framework for any registered clinician.
Referral guide
When and how to refer: pelvic floor physio, sex therapy, and medical care
Practical interdisciplinary referral guidance, what each provider offers, when to refer, and how to communicate across disciplines.
Reserve your place
Get notified when
enrollment opens.
The Sexual Health Institute program is currently in final development. Join the waitlist to receive launch notification, early access to free clinical resources, and founding member pricing when registration opens.
- Early access to the free clinical resource library
- Launch notification before public announcement
- Founding member pricing, locked at registration
- Priority enrollment in the first cohort
- Access to pre-launch CE webinars
Join the waitlist.
60 seconds. No payment. No commitment.
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