Sex Therapy in Pittsburgh & Online
For When the Problem Isn’t Your Body — It’s What’s Happening in Your Head
There’s a version of sex therapy that treats sexual problems like broken machinery. Check the parts, fix the function, send you home.
That’s not what happens here.
The people who come to me for sex therapy are usually dealing with something more complicated than a mechanical failure. They’re dealing with the gap between knowing they should want sex and not being able to get there. They’re watching themselves during sex instead of feeling it. They’re avoiding intimacy entirely, or going through the motions while somewhere far away in their heads.
Often, by the time someone calls a sex therapist, they’ve already seen the urologist. The bloodwork came back fine. The medication either didn’t help or produced an erection without desire — which turns out to feel like a different kind of problem entirely.
What I work with is what happens after the medical answers run out. The psychological, relational, and emotional dimensions of sex that most clinicians aren’t trained to touch.
Have questions about sex therapy? Book a free 15-minute consultation — no pressure, just an honest conversation.
Schedule your free consult →What Brings People Here
The concerns people bring to sex therapy are more varied than most expect, but a few themes come up again and again:
Desire that’s gone missing. Not because something is medically wrong, but because sex has become associated with pressure, performance, or disconnection. Sometimes desire disappears in the context of a relationship that feels emotionally unsafe. Sometimes it was never fully present in the first place. Mismatched desire between partners is one of the most common reasons couples seek help.
Spectatoring — watching yourself instead of being present. This is the experience of mentally floating above the encounter, monitoring your performance, checking whether you’re aroused enough, wondering if your partner is bored. You can’t be a critic and a lover at the same time. The observer kills the experience.
Erectile difficulty, delayed ejaculation, or difficulty with orgasm — not as plumbing problems, but as the body’s way of saying no to conditions it doesn’t feel safe in. Performance anxiety, shame, relational tension — these show up in the body whether we want them to or not.
Sexual avoidance. Staying up late to avoid going to bed at the same time. Claiming to be tired. Building a life where sex just doesn’t come up. This is often less about low libido than about what sex has come to represent — vulnerability, potential failure, exposure.
Shame about desire. Feeling disturbed or confused by your own fantasies. Struggling with porn use that conflicts with your values. Wanting things you think you shouldn’t want. The shame itself becomes the problem, constricting desire into a narrow, anxious space.
Intimacy after rupture. Rebuilding a sexual connection after infidelity, illness, childbirth, or a long period of disconnection.
How I Work
Sex therapy is talk therapy. There’s no physical contact, no nudity, nothing that would make you uncomfortable. What there is: honest, precise conversation about things most people have never said out loud.
My approach integrates several frameworks that work together:
Sensate focus — the structured touching exercises developed by Masters and Johnson — is one of the most effective tools in sex therapy. It works by temporarily removing the “test” of intercourse and replacing it with a practice of noticing sensation without a goal. When there’s nothing to pass or fail, the body’s natural responsiveness often returns.
Attachment and relational work. Sexual problems rarely exist in isolation from the relationship. If there’s a pursue-withdraw cycle in the living room, it almost always shows up in the bedroom. I integrate emotionally focused therapy with sex therapy so we can work on both dimensions.
Psychodynamic understanding. I’m interested in why — not just what’s happening, but what it means. Why does your body shut down with this partner but not in fantasy? Why does vulnerability feel dangerous? What did you learn about desire, pleasure, and your own body growing up?
Experiential, here-and-now work. Sex therapy can’t stay abstract. Drawing on my training in Emotionally Focused Therapy, I work with what’s happening in the room — the hesitation when you try to say something vulnerable, the shift in your body when we get close to something that matters. This isn’t therapy from a distance. It’s therapy in the lived moment, which is why it reaches places that insight alone cannot.
Mindfulness and embodiment. Learning to notice where your attention is, to return to the body when the mind wants to flee into analysis or evaluation, to inhabit experience rather than narrate it. This is the core skill that breaks the spectatoring habit and makes sex feel like something that’s actually happening to you again.
If you have been thinking about this for a while, a free consultation is a low-pressure way to start.
Schedule a free consult →Who This Is For
I work with individuals and couples. You don’t need to bring a partner to do this work — many people come on their own to understand their relationship to desire, arousal, shame, or avoidance before (or instead of) involving a partner.
I see a lot of men. Not exclusively, but the intersection of male sexuality, shame, performance pressure, and avoidance is a particular focus of my practice. If you’re a man who overthinks sex rather than inhabits it — who has turned desire into a problem to be solved rather than an experience to be had — this work is built for you.
I also work with couples where sexual disconnection has become the elephant in the room — where one or both partners want to address it but don’t know how to talk about sex without it turning into blame or shame.
Explore Specific Concerns
I offer focused support for specific sexual health concerns, including erectile dysfunction, low sexual desire, difficulty with orgasm, painful sex, delayed ejaculation, and premature ejaculation. Each page explores that specific concern in more depth.
Practical Details
I’m an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist — the highest clinical credential in the field of sex therapy. Sessions are available in person in Pittsburgh’s East End and online across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Rhode Island.
This is a private-pay practice, which matters here especially — insurance companies often don’t cover sex therapy, and even when they do, the documentation requirements can make people understandably reluctant to use it for something this personal.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Whether you are just exploring or ready to begin, I am here to help. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if we are a good fit.
Schedule a Free ConsultationSex Therapy in Pittsburgh & Online
I see clients in person at my office in Pittsburgh’s East End — 134 S Highland Ave, East Liberty — and online across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Rhode Island. For many clients, online sex therapy feels easier initially — there is something about being in your own space that makes it less daunting to talk about things you have never said out loud.
Evening and Sunday sessions are available. If you are in Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Highland Park, or anywhere in Pittsburgh’s East End, the office is an easy drive or bus ride. If you are elsewhere in PA or one of my other telehealth states, online sessions work just as well.
If you are looking for an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist in the Pittsburgh area, this is a specialized practice — not a general therapist who occasionally takes sex-related cases.
Further Reading
Opening Up: How to Talk to Your Partner About Sex (When It Feels Awkward or Difficult).
Beyond the Bedroom: Expanding Your Definition of Intimacy and Rekindling Connection.
Rekindling Desire: A Sex Therapist’s Guide for Couples Experiencing Mismatched Libidos.
Finding the Right Sex Therapist in Pittsburgh
Frequently Asked Questions
What actually happens in a sex therapy session?
Sex therapy is talk therapy — there is no physical component. We have direct, honest conversations about desire, arousal, avoidance, shame, and the relational dynamics that affect your sexual life. I may assign structured exercises (like sensate focus) to practice between sessions, but sessions themselves involve conversation.
Do I need to bring my partner?
No. Many people do this work individually. Individual sex therapy can be powerful for understanding your own relationship to desire, arousal, and the body — whether or not a partner is involved. Couples sessions are also available when both partners want to work together.
What does AASECT Certified mean?
AASECT (American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists) certification is the highest clinical credential for sex therapists in the United States. It requires extensive specialized training, supervised clinical hours, and ongoing education beyond a standard therapy license.
How is sex therapy different from regular therapy?
Most therapists receive little to no training in human sexuality. Sex therapy involves specialized knowledge of sexual function, desire, arousal, and the psychological dimensions of intimacy. It allows us to address sexual concerns directly rather than hoping they resolve on their own as other issues improve.
I’m embarrassed to talk about this. Is that normal?
Completely. Almost everyone feels some version of that in the beginning. Part of what makes this work effective is creating a space where these conversations become possible — not by pretending they’re easy, but by meeting the discomfort with directness and respect. It usually gets easier faster than people expect.
How long does sex therapy take?
It depends on what you are working on. Some focused concerns — like performance anxiety or a specific avoidance pattern — can shift meaningfully in 8-12 sessions. Deeper work around shame, desire, or long-standing relational patterns takes longer. We check in regularly about what is working and what needs to shift.
How much does sex therapy cost?
This is a private-pay practice, which matters especially here — insurance companies often do not cover sex therapy, and even when they do, the diagnostic and documentation requirements can make people understandably reluctant to use insurance for something this personal. I can provide superbills for potential out-of-network reimbursement.
What is sensate focus?
Sensate focus is a structured series of touching exercises developed by Masters and Johnson. It works by temporarily removing the goal of intercourse or orgasm and replacing it with a practice of noticing sensation without performance pressure. When there is nothing to pass or fail, the body natural responsiveness often returns. I guide clients through this process step by step, adapting it to what is actually getting in the way.
Can you help with desire differences between partners?
Yes — desire discrepancy is one of the most common reasons couples seek sex therapy. The key is understanding that desire differences are almost never just about libido. They are usually tangled up with how safe the relationship feels, unspoken resentment, performance pressure, or different relationships to vulnerability. We work on the emotional dynamics underneath the desire gap, not just the gap itself.
I am a man struggling with sexual issues. Is this practice a good fit?
Male sexuality, shame, and avoidance are a particular focus of this practice. Many of my clients are men dealing with spectatoring, performance anxiety, sexual avoidance, or difficulty being present during sex. If you are someone who overthinks sex rather than inhabits it, this work is built for that.
About Your Therapist
Jonah Taylor is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist practicing in Pittsburgh, PA. He specializes in Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples and individuals, with a particular focus on the intersection of attachment, sexuality, and shame. Jonah integrates psychodynamic understanding, mindfulness, and attachment science to help clients move beyond surface-level coping toward genuine change.