A desire to have healthy, happy and pleasurable sex is leading more Tasmanians to seek the support of a sexologist, with sex-related medical issues topping the list of concerns.
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Sexologist Haley Krenzke opened up sex therapy and couples counselling services in Launceston last year after working in the United States for more than a decade.
Ms Krenzke said individuals and couples seek sex therapy for a wide variety of reasons, from erectile dysfunction to gender and sexual identity explorations.
She said she was shocked by the sexual things that many people do not know about, and would love to see adult sex education classes tailored to people in mid-life, and 50 and up.
Why are people using sexologists and sex therapists?
Ms Krenzke said the top five reasons for seeking the help of a sex therapist are:
- Medical or body-related sex issues
- Sexual impacts of big life changes
- Sexual identity exploration
- Relationship challenges and changes
- Sexual trauma
Ms Krenzke said offering support for medical or body-related sex issues, such as erectile dysfunction, vaginitis and pain during sex, was a major part of sex therapist work.
She said big changes in a person's life, such as grief, ageing, pregnancy and having children, can also have huge impacts on individual sexuality and partner relationships.
Ms Krenzke said she did a lot of work with couples, including those who wanted to change the rules of their relationships.
"A lot of times my role is helping clients receive information from their partner, and to receive it in a curious and open way as opposed to feeling criticised or shut down."
She said she also worked with people impacted by traumas such as sexual assault and abuse, where she helped to rebuild a person's healthy and positive relationship with sex and sexuality.
Healthy, happy sex depends on each individual
Ms Krenzke said her role as a sex therapist was to have explicit conversations on topics that may never have been talked about, to investigate and unpack the histories of her clients, and to then offer solutions to the overarching question of what can be done to help.
She said the presenting issue was often the tip of the iceberg.
"People come in with the idea that a therapist will tell a person what to do and fix it all," she said.
"But sex therapy in its purest form is meant to be short term with specific interventions and solutions. What is short term depends on the presenting problems, and it might mean a couple of months or a couple of years."
She said working through personal issues of sex and sexual identity helped to create a healthy, human experience.
"One of the things I see as being really important is making space for my clients who are deep-diving and figuring out who they are as sexual beings, and helping them to explore what works for them in their own bodies," she said.
"Oftentimes I am working with people on a very case-by-case basis to figure out what a healthy, happy, pleasurable sexuality template looks like for them.
