Embodied, sex-positive support for intimacy, sexuality, and the space in between

Affirming therapy for all bodies, identities, desires, and relationship structures — without shame and without judgment.

What we weren’t taught

Most of us were never given a language for our sexuality.

We were handed silence, shame, or scripts that didn't fit — about what bodies are supposed to look like, what desire is supposed to feel like, who we are supposed to want, and how intimacy is supposed to work. Those early messages don't disappear. They live in the nervous system. They show up in the body, in relationships, in the moments we shut down or reach out or hold back.

Intimacy and sexuality are not separate from mental health. They are woven through identity, attachment, trauma, power, and the stories we carry about worthiness and belonging.

When something feels blocked, confusing, painful, or absent in this part of your life — it rarely lives in isolation. It is connected to how you learned to be in a body, in relationship, and in the world.

This work creates space to slow down, get curious, and begin untangling what's yours — and what was handed to you.

We Believe

At Systems Centered Wellness, we approach intimacy and sexuality through a relational, systems-centered, and social justice-informed lens.

We do not treat sexuality as a problem to diagnose or a symptom to eliminate. We treat it as a dimension of the full human experience — one shaped by body, attachment history, identity, power, culture, and relational context.

Desire is not a performance. It is an embodied, relational, and sometimes complex part of who you are — and it deserves to be met with curiosity, not correction.

Shame is not neutral. It has a history. It was taught. And it can be examined and, in many cases, released.

Sexuality is not fixed. It can be fluid, evolving, and deeply tied to the broader work of knowing yourself.

Bodies hold stories. Trauma, pleasure, dysphoria, numbness, and desire all live somatically — not just cognitively. Healing that ignores the body often stays incomplete.

All identities belong here. This is not a space that tolerates difference — it is a space built for it.

Therapeutic Approach

Our therapists draw from evidence-informed and experiential frameworks to support embodied, relational healing:

Somatic and body-based approaches ... attending to what the body holds, not just what the mind can name. Dana Gulley brings somatic experiencing and bodymind awareness into this work, supporting clients in rebuilding a relationship with their own physical experience at their own pace.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) ... working with the parts of you that carry shame, fear, or protective distance around intimacy and sexuality, and restoring access to your own inner wisdom and Self-leadership.

Attachment-informed work ... understanding how early relational experiences shape how we approach closeness, vulnerability, and physical and emotional intimacy.

Relational and existential perspectives ... holding the bigger questions — of meaning, identity, freedom, and the ways systems of power shape our most personal experiences. This is a core thread across our team's training and clinical identity.

Trauma-informed care ... creating safety at the pace of each person, particularly for those navigating sexual trauma, medical trauma affecting sexuality, or experiences of violation and repair.

Our work with intimacy and sexuality is fully integrated into our systems-centered clinical model — meaning we never look at this part of your life in isolation from the rest of it.

You Don't Have to Have It Figured Out to Begin

We work with individuals and couples navigating:

  • Sexual identity exploration, including orientation, gender, and embodiment

  • Desire discrepancy within partnerships

  • Low or absent libido, and the relational impact it carries

  • Sexual anxiety, avoidance, or pain (we work alongside medical providers when appropriate)

  • Recovery from sexual trauma, coercive experiences, or religious and cultural sexual shame

  • Intimacy challenges connected to chronic illness, disability, body image, or life transition

  • Kink, BDSM, and alternative erotic expression — without pathologizing

  • Non-monogamous and polyamorous dynamics and the intimacy questions they raise

  • Coming out or coming into yourself at any age

  • Compulsive sexual behavior and the attachment and shame patterns beneath it

  • Partners navigating mismatched needs, erotic disconnection, or a desire to rebuild physical closeness

You do not need to arrive with a clear diagnosis or a specific problem. Many people come simply because this part of their life has been unexamined for too long — and they are ready to look.

INCLUSIVE COMMITMENT

All of You Is Welcome Here

This is an explicitly affirming, sex-positive, and non-pathologizing space.

We are LGBTQIA+ affirming. We are kink and BDSM aware. We are polyamory and ethical non-monogamy informed. We are trans and nonbinary affirming, including support around gender identity, dysphoria, and embodiment. We welcome all body types, relationship structures, and sexual expressions.

Our team members bring lived experience alongside clinical training to this work. Dana Gulley (he/they), one of our therapists in training, identifies as queer and transmasculine — and brings a grounded, embodied, and personally-informed understanding of identity navigation to clients across the full spectrum of experience. Shep Shepard (they/them) joins our team in August and will be accepting clients then.

Shame has no clinical value here. Neither does silence.

Next Step

You Deserve a Space That Can Hold This:

Conversations about intimacy and sexuality often get avoided in therapy — even when they are exactly what someone came to work on. We are not that kind of practice.

If you are ready to explore this part of your life with support, we invite you to reach out by filling out our contact form.

Sliding scale options are available with our trained intern therapists, trust us they are amazing.