The Experts in Sex Therapy, Couples Therapy, Integrative Couples & Sex Therapy and Trauma Therapy.
Cushing Counseling consists of true experts in the field for sex, couples, and trauma therapy. We are group practice offering sex therapy, couples therapy, and trauma therapy to clients in Virginia, Maryland, DC, and Florida, — through secure online sessions.
Our Core Values
Three values shape the way we show up for every client, every session, every decision at Cushing Counseling. They are the standard we hold ourselves to — and the promise we make to the people who trust us with their care.
Integrity
We do what we say. That means clear communication from the first phone call, honest conversations about what therapy can and can’t do, predictable scheduling and follow-through, and ethical practice held to the standards of our licensing boards. Integrity is why our clients can exhale in the room with us — they don’t have to wonder whether the person across from them is being straight with them.
Why it matters: Therapy works because of trust. Without integrity, there is no trust — and without trust, real change isn’t possible.
Expertise
We deliver the highest quality of care. Our clinicians are rigorously trained, specialty-certified, and continually learning. We practice evidence-based methods, stay current with the research, and pursue advanced training in the specific areas we treat — sex therapy, trauma, couples work — so that our clients receive care that is thoughtful, skilled, and sophisticated.
Why it matters: The concerns our clients bring are real and complex. They deserve more than a general ear; they deserve expertise.
Compassion
We meet every client with warmth, patience, and respect. The people who come to us are often navigating shame, grief, fear, or stuckness. We never treat those experiences as problems to be fixed on a schedule. Compassion looks like listening carefully, honoring the pace each person needs, and holding space for hard truths without judgment — while still challenging our clients to grow.
Why it matters: People don’t change because they’re shamed into it. They change because they finally feel safe enough to be honest — with their therapist and with themselves.
Our Mission
At Cushing Counseling, we believe good therapy is both a skill and a relationship. Our mission is to help the people we work with feel genuinely seen, supported, and steadier — whether they arrive in a moment of crisis, a long season of struggle, or simply ready for something to change.
We take our work seriously, and we take our clients’ time seriously. That means clinically sound, research-informed care delivered with the warmth, patience, and honesty that real growth requires.
Our Approach
We practice integrative, trauma-informed therapy — drawing from evidence-based modalities including cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, and feminist theory. Rather than forcing clients into a single framework, we tailor each treatment plan to the person in front of us: your history, your goals, and the patterns you’re ready to shift.
Our work is designed to help you eliminate distress, build more adaptive coping skills, gain insight into the patterns that keep you stuck, and move toward meaningful, lasting change. We are an LGBTQ+ affirming practice, and we are committed to creating a space where every client feels safe, respected, and free to show up as themselves.
Our Approach
We practice integrative, trauma-informed therapy — drawing from evidence-based modalities including cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, and feminist theory. Rather than forcing clients into a single framework, we tailor each treatment plan to the person in front of us: your history, your goals, and the patterns you’re ready to shift.
Our work is designed to help you eliminate distress, build more adaptive coping skills, gain insight into the patterns that keep you stuck, and move toward meaningful, lasting change. We are an LGBTQ+ affirming practice, and we are committed to creating a space where every client feels safe, respected, and free to show up as themselves.
What We Offer
Sex and couples therapy are the heart of our practice. Everything we do — our training, our modalities, our specialty certifications — is built around doing this work at the highest level. Our core areas of practice include:
Sex Therapy — Address concerns around desire, intimacy, and sexual wellness in a judgment-free setting. Our founder is an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist with specialized expertise in low sexual desire, desire discrepancy, painful sex, erectile dysfunction, and intimacy concerns.
Couples Therapy — Rebuild connection, communicate with less friction, and move through conflict as a team. Our integrative approach blends couples work with sex therapy so partners can do both kinds of healing in one place.
Trauma & Sexual Trauma Therapy — Heal from sexual trauma, relational trauma, and religious or purity-culture trauma, with clinicians trained in trauma-informed care.
Individual Therapy for Adults — Work through anxiety, self-worth, identity, life transitions, and the patterns that keep you stuck.
Who We Serve
We work with adults, couples, and partners of all kinds who are ready to do meaningful work on themselves or their relationships. Clients often come to us navigating:
Communication struggles and relationship stress
Low desire, desire discrepancy, or other concerns around intimacy
Past or recent sexual trauma
Major life transitions, including separation and divorce
Anxiety, self-worth, and the effects of complex or ongoing stress
We welcome clients of all identities, orientations, and relationship structures, and we are proud to provide affirming care for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Where We Practice
Cushing Counseling serves clients across Virginia (including Fairfax and Alexandria), Maryland, DC, Florida (including Miami), and the greater DMV area through secure telehealth sessions.
Our Team
Vanessa Cushing
As a Licensed Professional Counselor and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, Vanessa specializes in helping individuals and couples improve emotional connection, communication, and sexual wellness. Her approach is both compassionate and direct — she creates space for clients to explore challenges safely while encouraging meaningful growth, healing, and self-awareness. Her mission is to help clients break free from shame, understand their patterns, and rebuild healthy, authentic intimacy — with themselves or their partners.
Areas of expertise: low sexual desire and desire discrepancy; erectile dysfunction and premature or delayed ejaculation; female orgasmic disorder and genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder; sex addiction and out-of-control sexual behaviors; reclaiming sexuality after trauma or infidelity; integrative couples and sex therapy; LGBTQ+ affirming care.
Therapeutic style: direct and no-nonsense, balancing compassion with accountability. Draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with a feminist orientation, and integrates mind-body interventions for trauma survivors.
Credentials: Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Johns Hopkins University • Dual bachelor’s in Psychology and Women and Gender Studies, University of Virginia • Certificate in Sex Therapy, University of Michigan • AASECT Certified Sex Therapist • Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) • Licensed Professional Counselor in Virginia • Member of AASECT, ACA, Chi Sigma Iota, and Phi Beta Kappa (ΦΒΚ).
Owner & Founder • AASECT Certified Sex Therapist
Alexandria Da Ponte-Cheatham, M.Ed., M.Div.
Resident in Counseling • Trauma-Informed & Affirming TherapyAlexandria provides individual and couples trauma-informed therapy for adults, with a focus on sexual wellness, intimacy concerns, and identity development. Her work is especially supportive for clients from diverse cultural, racial, and religious backgrounds, with care attuned to how culture, family systems, and lived experience shape self-understanding, desire, and connection. She is especially passionate about helping clients unlearn shame-based narratives and reclaim an authentic, embodied relationship with themselves.
Areas of expertise: sexual trauma recovery, grief, and spiritual or religious harm; religious deconstruction and healing from purity culture; desire discrepancy; pain with sex and pelvic floor concerns; first sexual experiences; navigating new relationships and sexual identity; LGBTQIA+ identity exploration; anxiety, depression, and life transitions.
Therapeutic style: person-centered, narrative, and mindfulness-based, integrating Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing, and Trauma-Informed Care. Currently deepening expertise at Cushing Counseling in sex therapy, couples and intimacy work, IFS, EMDR, and somatic integration.
Credentials: Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, William & Mary • Master of Divinity, Duke University • Resident in Counseling in Virginia, supervised by Vanessa Cushing • Prior experience in chaplaincy, including spiritual care, grief counseling, and meaning-making.
Noelle Harris, LMSW
Noelle supports individuals and couples who are craving more meaningful connection — with themselves or with a partner. Whether clients come to her for deeper intimacy, new aspects of their sexuality, modern dating, or relational challenges, she meets people where they are with a compassionate, collaborative, and educational approach. She believes the relationship you have with yourself is just as important as the relationships you have with others.
Areas of expertise: life transitions; mismatched desire; couple communication; painful sex; sexual shame; sexual dysfunction; non-traditional relationship styles; modern dating; premarital therapy; BDSM and kink.
Therapeutic style: guided by Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Gottman Therapeutic Approaches — with an emphasis on education, self-compassion, and challenging cultural myths that stand in the way of lasting connection.
Credentials: Master’s in Social Work (Interpersonal Practice), University of Michigan • Bachelor’s in Biopsychology, Cognition & Neuroscience and Gender & Health, University of Michigan • Integrative Sex and Couples Certification Training with Tammy Nelson • Currently under supervision toward AASECT Certified Sex Therapist • Provisionally Licensed in Social Work in Virginia • Supervised by Camille Espinoza, LICSW, and Vanessa Cushing.
Sex Therapist • Supervisee in Social Work
Radiance Sanneman, MS, LCPC, NCC, CCMHC
Radiance offers adult clients a safe space to be themselves, explore their inner wisdom, and navigate life’s challenges without facing them alone. She works only with adults, in individual or group therapy. Clients often seek her out for complex trauma and relational transgression (childhood abuse, toxic relationships, betrayals by partners or spiritual leaders), religious trauma, and support across major life transitions. She is firmly committed to culturally competent, LGBTQ-affirming, trauma-informed care.
Areas of expertise: complex trauma and relational transgression; survivors of childhood abuse, toxic relationships, or betrayal; life transitions; LGBTQ+ affirming care; religious trauma and spiritual abuse; navigating spiritual and religious crossroads.
Therapeutic style: a Level 1 trained Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist who helps clients connect to different parts of themselves and heal trauma wounds from the inside out. Also draws on Attachment Theory, Feminist Therapy and intersectional feminism, Solution-Focused Therapy, Person-Centered Therapy, and Positive Psychology research.
Credentials: Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Loyola University Maryland • Licensed Professional Counselor in Virginia and Washington, D.C. • Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Maryland • Level 1 trained Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist • Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) • Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CCMHC).
Licensed Mental Health Counselor • IFS Specialist & Trauma Therapist
Start with a Free Consultation
Choosing a therapist is a personal decision, and it should feel right. That’s why every prospective client at Cushing Counseling is invited to begin with a free phone consultation — a no-pressure conversation to share what you’re looking for, ask questions, and see if we’re the right fit.
When you’re ready, we’re here.