Annapolis · Maryland
Sex therapy in Annapolis, MD
Sex therapy with an AASECT-certified specialist, for individuals and couples in Annapolis and across Annapolis, Severna Park and Anne Arundel County.
Sex therapy in Annapolis is talk-based treatment for sexual difficulty — desire, arousal, pain, orgasm, performance anxiety — provided by an AASECT-certified sex therapist. There is no physical examination and no contact of any kind. Sessions are held by secure video, and the first 15-minute consultation is free.
Who you would be working with
Vanessa Cushing, LPC, NCC, MS — AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist, MS from Johns Hopkins University. Fewer than one in a thousand licensed therapists in the United States hold AASECT certification.
If this is the year you deal with it, start with a conversation rather than a commitment.
Why Annapolis clients come here
Annapolis carries a military and Naval Academy population alongside a settled professional one, and both tend to arrive late — after the problem has been managed privately for years. Sea duty, deployment and long absences also shape the sexual picture in ways general counselling rarely asks about.
Annapolis sits inside Annapolis, Severna Park and Anne Arundel County, and the practical problem is supply rather than demand: there are very few AASECT-certified clinicians in the region, and most general therapists list intimacy as one interest among twenty. That gap is why this work is done by video for clients across Maryland rather than out of a single office.
What sex therapy treats
- Erectile difficulty, including the kind that began as a one-off and became a pattern
- Early or delayed ejaculation
- Low desire, and desire that changed after children, medication or a medical event
- Desire discrepancy — one partner wanting sex far more or far less often than the other
- Pain with penetration, including cases where the medical workup came back normal
- Difficulty reaching orgasm
- Performance anxiety and the avoidance cycle it sets up
- Sexual shame carried out of religious or family messaging
How the work is structured
- A first session that maps what is happening, how long it has been happening, and what has already been tried — including a straightforward sexual history, asked matter-of-factly.
- A working formulation: which part of the problem is physiological, which is anxiety, which is relational. Most cases are a mix, and treating the wrong one is why previous attempts stalled.
- Structured exercises done privately at home between sessions. This is where the change actually happens; the session is for reviewing what came up.
Sex therapy is talk therapy. There is no physical examination, no touching, no undressing and no observation of sexual activity, ever. The work happens in conversation and in structured exercises you do privately at home.
Sessions, privacy and location
Maryland sessions are held by secure video anywhere in the state — Baltimore, the Eastern Shore, Frederick, the Montgomery and Howard County suburbs.
There is no in-person office in Annapolis. Sessions are held by secure, HIPAA-compliant video — which is how the majority of this practice's clients are seen, by preference rather than necessity. No waiting room, no drive across Annapolis, Severna Park and Anne Arundel County, and the exercises get practised at home where they belong.
Also available in Annapolis
- Couples therapy in Annapolis — the pattern between you
- Trauma therapy in Annapolis — the lasting effects of what happened
Nearby in Maryland
- Sex therapy in Potomac — Potomac and Montgomery County
- Sex therapy in Chevy Chase — Chevy Chase and the D.C. line
Worth reading first
- Sex therapy across Maryland
- What sex therapy actually is
- AASECT-certified vs. non-certified
- Does insurance cover therapy like this?
- Out-of-network benefits, explained
Questions Annapolis clients ask
Do you see clients in Annapolis?
Yes. Vanessa Cushing is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the State of Maryland, so anyone physically located in Maryland at the time of the session can be seen — Annapolis included, along with Severna Park, Arnold, Edgewater. Sessions are held by secure video; there is no office in Annapolis, and that is stated plainly rather than implied otherwise.
What does the free consultation involve?
Booking is a free 15-minute consultation, held by video, with no obligation to continue. You will speak with Vanessa directly rather than an intake coordinator, and you can ask about fees, confidentiality and whether Annapolis residents are seen before committing to anything.
Is there any physical examination or touching?
No — never, in any legitimate sex therapy practice. Sex therapy is talk therapy plus private homework. Nobody undresses, nobody is examined, and no sexual activity is ever observed. If a provider anywhere suggests otherwise, leave and report them.
What makes an AASECT-certified therapist different?
AASECT certification requires supervised clinical hours specifically in sexual health on top of a full counselling licence, and fewer than one in a thousand licensed therapists in the United States hold it. In practice it means the sexual part of the problem gets treated rather than politely stepped around.
Do you take insurance?
This is an out-of-network practice. Superbills are provided on request and many plans reimburse a share of the fee under out-of-network benefits; the insurance guide walks through how to check yours before your first session. Fees are discussed openly in the free consultation.
How private is this?
Sessions are held over a HIPAA-compliant video platform, records are kept to the clinical minimum, and nothing is disclosed to an employer, an insurer you have not billed, or anyone else without your written authorisation. This comes up constantly with Annapolis clients and it is a fair question to ask in detail during the consultation.
Sex therapy in Annapolis starts with a free 15-minute consultation with Vanessa — not an intake form, not a waiting list.