In two-to-three pages, please describe your background and interest in this certificate. Tell us anything pertinent regarding your personal development, professional experience, professional license(s) held and/or the stage you are in with regard to your clinical licensure, training or internship. Include descriptions of your training in psychotherapy, sexuality or related areas. Share how you learned didactically and where you practiced these skills and knowledge sets. Additionally, please share with us what you hope to do with this certificate in your work or in the world. Make sure to consider both the concrete ways you might use this training for career advancement but also the larger intentions or purpose this might fulfill.

Payment plans are offered at no additional cost. The specific details of these payment plans will be sent out as part of a welcome packet once the application period is over and all applicants are accepted. See below for more details.

As part of our mission to expand the field of sex therapy, CIIS has designated funds to offer up to three half $3,500 scholarships, and two partial $2,000 scholarships to every cohort for those in financial need.

The CIIS Public Programs Future Leader scholarships are specifically for applicants who plan to use their Sex Therapy Certificate not only to expand their personal practice, but to pursue a leadership position within the field of sex therapy (i.e. pursue AASECT certification to become a Sex Therapy Supervisor, teach sex therapy to others in your profession, bring sex therapy techniques into your workplace and/or community, and more).

To apply, please upload a 1-2 page essay with your program application that answers the following questions. Please note that the deadline to apply for a scholarship is earlier than the final deadline to apply for the program.
 

• How will you pursue a leadership position within the field of sex therapy after you complete your training?
• How will you bring the sexuality and sex therapy education you receive in this program to others in your professional and/or other communities?
• What is your financial situation and why are you applying for a scholarship?

Summer 2025: A non-refundable application fee of $50 is due at the time of application. Payment of the program fee (or the first payment of your payment plan) must be received by June 1, to secure your space in the program. Payment plans are available and will be provided to accepted applicants. If a student withdraws before July 15, 50% of the full fee will be due. The full fee is due if a student withdraws after July 15.

Fall 2025: A non-refundable application fee of $50 is due at the time of application. Payment of the program fee (or the first payment of your payment plan) must be received by September 1st, to secure your space in the program. Payment plans are available and will be provided to accepted applicants. If a student withdraws before October 1st, fifty percent of the full fee will be due. The full fee is due if a student withdraws after October 1st.

Applicants will be notified of their acceptance and scholarship decision (if applicable) within two weeks after the application deadline.

• Marla Stewart
• Summer

This course provides students an opportunity to see how Black couples and individuals understand their sexuality as it pertains to the pursuit of pleasure. While in their pursuit, we will take a deep dive into what it is like to help your clients understand their sexuality, what it means to “queer” their sexuality and how the invocation of kink can help to enhance their intimacy skills, work through their psychological hang-ups, and pave a new avenue of pleasure.

• Juan Camerena
• Fall, Spring and Summer

This thought-provoking course will take a critical and reflective approach to examine a range of sexual behaviors and expressions that may be, for various reasons, viewed as problematic. Such areas may include out of control sexual behaviors, rape culture, exploitation, sexuality & substances, and harassment. The course will consider issues of ethics, historical context, and various therapeutic approaches and interventions.

A separate portion of this course will highlight Dr. Camarena's expertise in working with models of gender and sexual identity, the intersections of race and sexuality, and sex therapy within the LGBTQQIA community.

• Estefanía Simich
• Fall, Spring and Summer

This course explores some of the intersections that might present in sex therapy when working with clients from diverse backgrounds and from different parts of the world. It is through the exploration of these intersections (e.g., culture, religion, migration, intergenerational teachings), that the course will focus on providing a space for exploration of ways of approaching cases and learning new practical skills to use with diverse groups of clients in sex therapy. The course emphasizes on the impact of patriarchal systems, systems of oppression, gender violence, sexual rights, migration and how this presents itself in sex therapy.

• Fiona O’Farrell - Spring

In this two-day workshop, Dr. Fiona O’Farrell will facilitate a learning process designed to help clinicians in building a skillset to working with various relationship structures from a sexological perspective. Students will be introduced to common issues that bring relational clients into sex therapy, as well as, clinical strategies for addressing those issues through the theoretical lens of the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy (Bader/Pearson). Opportunities will be provided for reflection on personal experiences and cultural norms that may impact their ability to practice effectively with relational clients. Participants will leave with strategies for conceptualizing couples and relational therapy cases, and a robust set of treatment strategies for working with a broad range of relational and sex-related challenges from a queer informed lens.

• Anne Mauro - Summer & Fall

In this two-day workshop, Anne Mauro will facilitate a learning process designed build
foundational systemic sex therapy skills. This weekend course is highly experiential with demos,
role-plays, and the Case Game.

• Bianca Laureano
• Fall, Spring and Summer

This course is designed to offer all students exposure in the form of facilitated discussion, small group activities, self-reflection, and media consumption along a range of sexual practices and experiences. The focus of the course utilizes an intersectional, justice-centered, and anti-oppression framework, to facilitate and address unexamined axiological assumptions we all hold about romantic orientations, bodies, gender, sexual exploration and attractions; and to consider and stay curious about them as a reflexive lifelong practice. This course is aligned to and is part of the AASECT sex educator and AASECT sex therapy certification and is considered one of the components of competency in core knowledge and experience in the field. The content will consist of a range of media with captions, that support various learning styles, and is presented by an experienced and certified facilitator.

• Reece Malone
• Summer

This course will take a foundational approach to equip clinicians with working applicable knowledge
about approaches in sex therapy. The course covers systemic sex therapy, assessment, and the use of
ecological screeners to assess and offer pathways to psychosexual disorders.

The course content also covers treatment modalities, how and when to work with individuals and
diverse relationships, and what and how to identify various ecologic and systemic factors for the
purpose of case conceptualization and intervention selection.

• Zoe and Walt Sipe
• Fall and Spring

This course emphasizes therapeutic stance related to sex therapy, working with eroticism in the clinical context, and practical demonstrations of common presenting issues in sex therapy. There will be training around participants' ongoing personal and professional development as sex therapists. We will integrate multiple theoretical orientations to sex therapy including behavioral, somatic, psychodynamic, gestalt, and attachment. As sex therapy often includes interaction with medical issues, we will also work with assessment, psychopharmacologic impacts, and working with interdisciplinary teams, including medical professionals.

• Damon Constantinides
• Fall and Spring

This course provides an introduction to a framework for sex therapy with trans and non-binary clients that is rooted in narrative therapy, transfeminism, queer theory, intersectionality and in challenging the cissexist culture we are all living in. Nine principles for providing sex therapy to erotically marginalized clients will be discussed with case examples.

• Complete all 165 educational hours required for the AASECT sex therapist application
• Integrate sexuality into your clinical practice and build clinical competence in addressing the intersection of relational and sexual issues
• Learn from instructors with a diversity of backgrounds and specialties
• Receive support from staff in finding an appropriate AASECT-certified supervisor
• Build relationships with your cohort and join a growing community of sex therapists

Yes, allied professionals are encouraged to apply. However, it's important that all practitioners who are not clinically licensed are aware that we are teaching from a context of clinically licensed therapists who work within the therapeutic frame. That doesn't mean other practitioners won't benefit greatly from the course and be able to integrate much of the material into existing coaching/physical therapy practices, but it's important to understand this specific context.

The course is separated into two different components: synchronous (in-person or online via Zoom) and online asynchronous (via Canvas). The online asynchronous work on Canvas is not required to complete our certificate program and receive a digital certificate. It is required if you want to go on to apply for AASECT certification.

The asynchronous portion of the course is designed as a supplement to the synchronous material specifically for those seeking AASECT certification. It contains 90 hours of work and it is done at your own pace. Students have one additional year to complete the asynchronous portion. For example, if you join the certificate for a Fall cohort, you will have until December 31 of the following year to complete the online asynchronous coursework.

Yes. This program meets the requirements for the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and is approved for 165 CE credits (75 Synchronous & 90 Asynchronous). Completion of this program does not ensure or guarantee AASECT Certification. For further information please contact ce@aasect.org.

In addition, the certificate meets the qualifications for hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. California Institute of Integral Studies is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for the licenses listed above. California Institute of Integral Studies maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content. BBS licensed individuals from states other than California need to check with their state licensing board for approval.

Under specific circumstances, prospective medical and mental health professionals who are not yet licensed may apply if they have completed the great majority of their coursework and have secured a traineeship or internship for gaining training hours of counseling and psychotherapy and have plans to complete their coursework in parallel. We have found that the coursework is most useful for those who have already begun practicum or are seeing clients, allowing them to incorporate the material into their practice. However, it is ultimately up to you when to apply.

Our cohorts are typically 25-30 students.

Our Certificate provides training for therapists in the form of in-person and online coursework. The students of our Certificate program work with a diverse range of clients.

For anyone seeking AASECT certification, we recommend reviewing the list of requirements on AASECT’s website. There two main components to the AASECT application: educational training and supervision hours. Our program satisfied all of the educational training requirements set out by AASECT. Upon completion of our program, participants will be eligible to conduct 300 hours of practical training in sex therapy in discussion with an AASECT certified sex therapy supervisor. AASECT requires 50 hours of supervision. Therapists can begin accruing supervised sex therapy hours after being enrolled in graduate school; they must have a contract arranged with an AASECT supervisor prior to any hours counting toward AASECT certification. The STC team will help you find a supervisor in your area and also provide a list of supervisors around the country that provide low-cost or sliding scale supervision.

After completion of the supervision hours, applicants send their documentation of coursework and supervised hours to AASECT as an application for certification. CIIS will provide a packet of helpful materials to assist students in applying for AASECT certification, including a helpful breakdown of Core Knowledge Area requirements met for each hour of teaching and an application filled in with their specific cohort’s information to be used as a guide.

Our Certificate does not include supervision hours, practicum, or internships. However, we will assist certificate students in finding an appropriate supervisor. We will also provide a list of supervisors around the country that provide low-cost or sliding scale supervision.

Our program is designed for existing therapists, or allied professionals, to gain additional training in sexuality. For more information on the field of Sex Therapy, check out the AASECT website.

Unfortunately, certificate programs are not eligible for student loans. Certificates are technically considered “Continuing Education” and students are not considered matriculated college students, and so most tuition-based scholarships and loans do not apply.

Payment plans are offered at no additional cost. The specific details of these payment plans will be sent out as part of a welcome packet once the application period is over and all applicants are accepted. See below for more details.

"This program is rich and deep and professionally stimulating. It made me feel both competent in my own style and stretched in my potential professional capacity. So excited and honored to do this work and know that my cohort clinicians are out in the world!"

"The Sex Therapy Certificate created a vibrant colleague community, and the quality instructors filled a clinical gap I sensed well beyond my expectations or wildest dreams. This program has transformed my career, and it has felt so affirming to have meaningful continuing ed and to apply the tools I've learned throughout the course in my daily work."

"The learning experience in this Sex Therapy certificate program has been inclusive, informative, and transformative. I have unlearnt and learned so much about sex therapy and I am poised to apply it in my clinical practice. I am very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this amazing program."

"The container that the facilitators held was amazing. They all helped us be easy with our vulnerability and strengths, which are essential to experience as sex therapists.I stayed through whole-night sessions with so much gratitude because each session made a difference in my personal and professional journey. I am so grateful for the opportunity, and I hope everyone in the mental health field gets a chance to learn through CIIS."

“CIIS' Sex Therapy Certificate program was an extremely powerful and furthering experience all around! The instructors were fantastic and the program covered a wide range of critical topics and practical advice. It was a fantastic experience overall and I highly recommend it!”

“This program gave me the skills and techniques to be a confident, educated, and well-rounded therapist. I learned tons about how to effectively incorporate sex therapy into my clinical practice”

“This program has been one of the best learning experiences I've ever had. Program's intentionality in centering BIPOC and/or queer experiences created a sound container for me to think, reflect, and challenge myself, and most importantly, build authentic connection with my amazing cohort.”

“I enjoyed the diversity and variety of students and instructors. As a queer person it was meaningful to have a curriculum that centered queerness and also kink in sex therapy.”

“I was truly blown away by the level of depth, care and knowledge at the root of this program. All of the professors offered a safe yet challenging way to grow my understanding of how to work with clients in ways that promote growth and healing, and I would recommend this program to anyone interested in specializing in this field.”

“Incredible program with incredible professors. Everything I learned was within a frame that felt good to me and reflected how I work with my clients already. I feel far more confident to work within the sexual domain after this course.”

“This program was a game changer for me. It opened me up to a new world of information as well as allowed me [to explore] my edges. It has already transformed the way I work with my clients!”

“This program filled in many gaps that was lacking in my grad school. I learned a deeper understanding of sex education, which I believe is critical in a therapist's toolkit in clinical work. I'm so excited to bring this info to better help my clients!”

“This training was so deeply impactful to me not only as a therapist but as a person. It has expanded my worldview and deepened my capacity to access compassion and identify areas of discomfort I was not aware I had before.”

“The learning experience in this Certificate program has been transformative. I have learned so much about myself, the field of psychotherapy and sex therapy. This program was absolutely amazing and motivates me to further my career even more.”

“This certificate program is one of the more inclusive environments I have been in, in terms of having POC, queer and non-binary/trans people in the room teaching and attending.”

“This program filled the gaps in my education. Throughout graduate school, I did not feel equipped in working with sex therapy clients and this program provided me with such a valuable and enriching educational experience.” - STC Alum, Fall 2022

“The program was very engaging and worth your time and energy. I personally enjoyed the breakout rooms because it gave me a chance to really discuss things that I would have not gotten the chance to. This program was ideal and aligned with the goal of becoming a sex therapist; it definitely sets you up for success and met my expectations!!”

“This program created a safe space for self-discovery, healing and growth as an individual and professional. The diversity of the staff and students lend to the learning process. Very interactive during classes and very open knowledgeable professors available to answer all questions. Support staff also very helpful and very communicative. Would definitely recommend!”

“All the instructors were very knowledgeable on the subjects and theories presented; however, I really admired how approachable, open-hearted and humbled these experts were with the material and interactions with the students.”

“This program and the professors provided me with the education, tools, and experience that I felt was missing from my practice. This program provided me the opportunity to create a supportive community with my cohort and the professors. This was a great professional and personal journey.”

“I really appreciate that this program exists and is making space for sex therapists to come together. Meeting my cohort has been amazingly rewarding and the coursework is compassionate.”

“My cohort for this program was phenomenal. I plan to stay connected with everyone through occasional get-togethers and our WhatsApp group chat! It's so nice to have a group of professionals around the country (and Canada!) that went through the training with me that I can now consult with and use as referral sources :)”

“The Sex Therapy Certificate Program at CIIS is an excellent introduction to the field of sex therapy and challenged my biases and made me face my uncomfortable feelings around talking about sex in and outside of the therapy room.”

“I feel that the sex therapy program was valuable in that most of the instructors made me more curious and expansive as a therapist. I feel excited about this field of therapy and I was inspired by my cohort to pioneer a new era of more diversity and inclusion in this field.”

“The Sex Therapy Certificate Program at CIIS is an excellent introduction to the field of sex therapy and challenged my biases and made me face my uncomfortable feelings around talking about sex in and outside of the therapy room.”

“I have found all of the information provided so incredibly valuable and I feel it has enabled me to offer SO much more support to my clients and generally feel more competent as a therapist. I suggested the training to my supervisor and now she is enrolled, has loved it, and is pursuing AASECT certification!”

“The CIIS program chartered my voyage of exploration in the world of sexuality and sex work. The content covered in this program will enhance every helping professional's career with unimaginable rewards!” 

“This is the curriculum I wish was taught in graduate school. It filled so many gaps as to how to work with client sexual concerns. Very practical and immediately applicable. A surprise was connecting with an amazing group of clinicians with whom I am happy to stay connected!” 

“I could not be happier at my decision to join the sex therapy certificate. I feel that I have found my people and my niche in this field.” 

“I really appreciated the diversity of the faculty and making connections with others in my cohort.”

“This program invited me to look inward and learn about my beliefs, biases, and areas of comfort and discomfort around sexuality in a safe and supportive learning environment.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course. I enjoyed the instructors as well as the cohort. I enjoyed having such a safe and open space to not only talk about sex therapy but to also bring our own sexual selves.”

“This program is everything I thought it would be plus more. The Sex Therapy certificate and teachings have helped me understand myself and other sexualities on a deeper level. As a therapist that will be working with LGBTQIA+ and POC, I was able to get some tools, great insights and reflections that will help inform my work and approach.”