AASECT Requirements for Sex Therapist Certification

The AASECT Office will verify your membership upon receipt of your application.

A check-box in the application will ask you to confirm that you are a current AASECT member, and that you remained a current member throughout your AASECT Supervision.

Be sure to read the AASECT Code of Conduct for Certified Members. By submitting your application, you agree to adhere to this Code of Conduct.

There will be a signature line in the application verifying that you have read and understood the AASECT Code of Conduct for Certified Members.

Only coursework from regionally accredited colleges or universities, nationally accredited faith-based institutions, and/or AASECT sponsored (offered by AASECT) or AASECT approved (offered by an AASECT CE provider) trainings will be accepted to fulfill this requirement for certification.

You can determine if a college or university is accredited by searching the institution’s website for “accreditation.”

Visit this link for more details on regional vs. national accreditation: www.edsmart.org/regional-vs-national-accreditation/

The applicant will have earned an advanced clinical degree that included psychotherapy training from an accredited college or university and the following clinical experience:

1. Master’s degree plus two years of post-degree clinical experience.
   
   -OR-
2. A doctoral degree plus one year of post-degree clinical experience.

Applicants from outside the United States must document equivalent academic experience.

A copy of your official academic transcripts. Digital versions are accepted and do not need to be sent directly to AASECT from your college or university.

Applicants with a master’s degree must have two (2) years of professional experience at the time of application. Applicants with a doctoral degree must have at least one (1) year of clinical experience at the time of application.

Clinical experience will include, but is not limited to, the diagnosis and treatment of psychosexual functions (diagnoses included in the “Psychosexual Disorders” section of the DSM).

It is expected that the applicant will function as the sole or primary therapist with patients/clients. This clinical experience will have exposed the applicant to a variety of the listed psychosexual disorders and will have included therapy with patients/clients of all genders and with couples.

Upload a current resume or CV.

Applicants from Canada, Mexico, and Israel will document how their licensure or certificate to practice in their jurisdiction meets or compares to the requirements for AASECT Certification.

A copy of your valid professional license or certificate. This can be a photo of a physical card or a screenshot of your verification page on your licensing board website. It must show an expiration date.

All candidates must have knowledge of the following as they relate to sexual health and pleasure:

1. Ethics and ethical behavior.
2. Developmental sexuality from a bio-psycho-social perspective across the life course.
3. Socio-cultural, familial factors (e.g., ethnicity, culture, religion, spirituality, socioeconomic status, family values), in relation to sexual values and behaviors.
4. Issues related to sexual orientation and/or gender identity: heterosexuality, issues and themes impacting lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual people; gender identity and expression.
5. Intimacy skills (e.g., social, emotional, sexual), intimate relationships, interpersonal relationships and family dynamics.
6. Diversities in sexual expression and lifestyles, including, but not limited to, polyamory, swinging, BDSM and tantra.
7. Sexual and reproductive anatomy/physiology.*
8. Health/medical factors that may influence sexuality, including, but not limited to, illness, disability, drugs, mental health, conception, pregnancy, childbirth & pregnancy termination, contraception, fertility, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infection, other infections, sexual trauma, injury and safer sex practices.*
9. Range of sexual functioning and behavior, from optimal to problematic, including, but not limited to, common issues such as: desire discrepancy, lack of desire, difficulty achieving or maintaining arousal, sexual pain, penetration problems and difficulty with orgasm.
10. Sexual exploitation, including sexual abuse, sexual harassment and sexual assault.
11. Cyber sexuality and social media.*
12. Substance use/abuse and sexuality.*
13. Pleasure enhancement skills.
14. Learning theory and its application.
15. Professional communication and personal reflection skills.
16. History of the discipline of sex research, theory, education, counseling and therapy.
17. Principles of sexuality research and research methods.

*Please note: CKAs G,H,K,L are time sensitive and should have reasonable up to date information and training.

Coursework from accredited academic institutions will be accepted towards the Core Knowledge Area requirements at a 1 clock-hour to 1 AASECT CE credit hour calculation. For example, a 3-credit college or university course on a semester cycle is calculated at 45 clock hours.

AASECT sponsored or approved CE credit trainings will also be accepted to fulfill content required for AASECT Certification, with one (1) hour equaling one (1) AASECT CE credit hour.

All other professional trainings that offer CEs from other certifying bodies (e.g., APA, NCHEC, ACCME) are considered ‘non-AASECT CE credits.’ These CEs will apply at half value, with two (2) non-AASECT CE credits equalling one (1) AASECT CE credit hour.

Acceptance of coursework, AASECT sponsored/approved CE credits or non-AASECT sponsored/approved CE credits is at the discretion of the AASECT Certification Committee member reviewers.

More information about alternate methods of earning credits can be found here.

If you completed a comprehensive training program for sex therapists (all Core Knowledge Areas), submit the transcript, certificate of completion, and/or any other relevant documentation.

If you did not complete a comprehensive training program, submit documentation such as certificates of completion, syllabi, course outlines, etc.

1. Theory and methods of sex-related psychotherapy, including several different models.
2. Techniques of sex-related assessment and diagnosis of the “Psychosexual Disorders” described in the current edition of the DSM.
3. Theory and methods of approach to intervention in relationship systems experiencing sex and intimacy problems. Therapists with no documented graduate or post graduate training in couples counseling must acquire sixteen (16) hours of couples counseling training as part of the sixty (60) hours of Sex Therapy Training. **
4. Theory and method of approach to medical intervention in the evaluation and treatment of psychosexual disorders. **
5. Principles of consultation, collaboration, and referral.
6. Ethical decision-making and best practice.

**Please note: Content areas C and D are time sensitive and should have reasonable up to date information and training.

The difference between the requirements in Section 6 (Human Sexuality Education: Core Knowledge Areas) and this section is that the education requirements in Section 6 are directed at general knowledge about human sexuality, while the training requirements in this section are directed at specific skills in sex therapy. The two categories of requirements are sufficiently different; therefore, documentation is necessary in each.

Sex therapy training must involve the learning of specific sex therapy techniques and interventions, not just theory. The training may be achieved through attending a specific sex therapy training program, taking graduate level academic courses that are specific to sex therapy techniques or by attending AASECT workshops which outline specific sex therapy techniques and how those may be applied to working with individuals and couples. As an example: you might attend a workshop on Sensate Focus and learn the theory of this particular therapeutic technique.

An additional workshop would be required on how to present this technique, what kind of language to use, how to time and pace the specific assignments, and in which order the assignments are given. Additionally, you would learn how to deal with clients who resist doing the assignments, how to help them deal with being blocked and how to deal with couples where one wants to do the assignments and the other partner does not.

If you completed a comprehensive training program for sex therapists (all Sex Therapy Skills Training content areas), submit the transcript, certificate of completion, and/or any other relevant documentation.

If you did not complete a comprehensive training program, submit documentation such as certificates of completion, syllabi, course outlines, etc.

Such training may not be personal psychotherapy or an academic experience in which the primary emphasis is on cognitive information. It is strongly recommended that this experience occur early in the applicant's training to be most beneficial.

If counting SAR hours, the applicant must have been an attendee in the SAR and not been functioning as a facilitator or co-facilitator in any capacity. The SAR requirement can be fulfilled either virtually or in-person.

The SAR must be AASECT sponsored or approved.

• A certificate of completion or similar documentation for the 14 hours of experience.
• A one-page comprehensive statement of the applicant’s professional philosophy and goals of sex therapy, which must include how this attitudes and values training experience affected this philosophy.

Supervised clinical work is the crux of AASECT certification. It is the therapy milieu in which competency is demonstrated.

The applicant will have completed a minimum of three hundred (300) hours of clinical treatment of patients/clients who present with sexual concerns while in a supervision contract with an AASECT Supervisor.

Individuals starting supervision must hold active AASECT memberships at the time supervision contract begins and must maintain AASECT membership throughout the supervision period. This supervised experience must be started only after the applicant is enrolled in graduate school.

Supervision must occur over a minimum eighteen (18) months, with a maximum of six (6) hours allowed per month, across which a supervisee has provided 300 hours of clinical treatment.

Any hours of AASECT supervision accrued prior to signing a supervision contract with an AASECT certified supervisor will not count toward certification.

The following examples do not qualify as supervision:

• Personal psychotherapy or counseling.
• A process that is primarily didactic, such as a workshop or seminar, in which the primary focus is teaching rather than the raw data of the supervisee’s clinical practice.
• Management and/or administrative meetings with an organizational director or executive.
• Peer supervision.
• Co-therapist supervision.
• Supervision from a family member or significant other person.
• Supervision from a colleague with whom one is involved in a partnership.

We acknowledge that some supervision may include some didactic training. We continue to support that concept. However, if you have the need, you can complete a maximum of five (5) additional hours of supervision to meet the requirements in Section 7. Sex Therapy Skills Training. Please note that these five (5) hours cannot be double counted toward the minimum of fifty (50) hours of supervision required in this section.

• Disaggregated hours of clinical treatment provided while in supervision with an AASECT certified supervisor entered in a table supplied in the application:
• Position title, start and end date, setting, and total hours.
• List of presenting issues and psychosexual disorders.
• Number of cases of sex therapy with the following: couples, adult males, adult females, children, families, and gender diverse persons.
• Supervisor Endorsement Form and Letter of Recommendation from the primary supervisor.
• Supervisor Endorsement Form and Letter of Recommendation (when applicable) from any additional supervisors.
• First Professional Colleague Endorsement Form and Letter of Recommendation from a professional colleague.
• Second Professional Colleague Endorsement Form and Letter of Recommendation from a professional colleague.

These letters should comment on the applicant’s professional responsibilities, professional ethics, and overall ability as a sex therapist.

Group supervision should contain no more than four (4) supervisees per individual supervisor and, when possible, should be extended beyond one (1) hour. If two (2) supervisors meet together to do group supervision, they may have five (5) to eight (8) supervisees in the group.

Group supervision must provide the equivalent of thirty (30) minutes per individual in the group. Therefore, a group with two (2) supervisees can be no shorter than one (1) hour, a group with three (3) supervisees can be no shorter than ninety (90) minutes, and so forth.

An applicant with a minimum of ten (10) years of post-degree clinical experience providing sex therapy for an average of twenty (20) hours per week (including workshops with couples) will require twenty-five (25) hours of supervision. Fifty percent (50%) of that supervision must be individual supervision, and the eighteen (18) month minimum length of supervision still applies. An endorsement of clinical skill history by an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist will be required.

The applicant will need to document the work they have done with specific DSM / ICD-10 Diagnoses. This also includes writing a summary of their work to date that includes:

• A statement on the theoretical orientation on the sex therapy the applicant has been practicing.
• The types of couples therapy the applicant has been trained in.
• The location of the therapy the applicant has provided (such as in person, in clinic, telehealth, etc.).
• The types of client cases treated (including sex therapy specific cases).
• Teaching or lecturing experience (if any).
• Training received that allows the applicant to provide these services (such as sex therapy programs, CE trainings, university courses, etc.).
• Membership in other professional organizations.
• Other types of cases the applicant has worked that full under the sex therapy categories of:
• Survivors of sexual trauma;
• Out of Control Sexual Behaviors;
• Issues in the LGBTQ Community.

The Supervision Endorsement Letter must state the supervisor’s knowledge of the ten (10) years of experience.