FL · Licensed and practising
Sex therapy in Florida
AASECT-certified sex therapy for individuals and couples anywhere in Florida.
Who you would be working with
Vanessa Cushing, LPC, NCC, MS — AASECT-Certified Sex Therapist, MS from Johns Hopkins University, Certificate in Sex Therapy from the University of Michigan. Fewer than one in a thousand licensed therapists in the United States hold AASECT certification.
Cushing Counseling provides sex therapy throughout Florida. Vanessa Cushing is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Florida, which means anyone physically located in Florida can be seen — not just people within driving distance of an office.
Florida has one of the largest populations in the country and very few AASECT-certified sex therapists to serve it. Outside Miami, Orlando and Tampa, most people searching for sex therapy find general couples counsellors who list intimacy as one interest among twenty — not clinicians with certified training in sexual health. That gap is why so much of this work happens by video across the state rather than within driving distance of one office.
What is treated
The presenting problem is usually one of a fairly small number of things, even though it rarely feels that way from the inside:
- Erectile difficulty, including the kind that started as a one-off and became a pattern
- Early or delayed ejaculation
- Low desire, and desire that has 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 difficulty following trauma, betrayal or infidelity
- Sex and intimacy for LGBTQ+ individuals and couples, including non-monogamous relationships
- Sexual shame carried out of religious or family messaging
How sessions work in Florida
Because the licence is state-wide, anyone physically located in Florida at the time of the session can be seen — Key West to Pensacola — without travelling to Miami.
In-person sessions are available in Miami. Everywhere else in Florida, sessions are held by secure video — which is how the majority of this practice's clients are seen, by preference rather than necessity.
Sex therapy is talk therapy. There is no physical examination, no touching, no undressing and no observation of sexual activity, ever — by anyone, in any legitimate sex therapy practice. The work happens in conversation and in structured exercises you do privately at home.
Where in Florida
Sessions reach every part of Florida. These pages cover the metros clients most often search from:
- Sex therapist in Orlando — Greater Orlando and Central Florida
- Sex therapist in Tampa — Tampa Bay
- Sex therapist in Miami — Miami-Dade and South Florida
- Sex therapist in Fort Lauderdale — Broward County
Why certification matters here
In every one of these states, any licensed therapist may advertise themselves as specialising in sex therapy. There is no legal restriction on the phrase. AASECT certification is the only widely recognised marker that a clinician completed supervised training specific to sexual health rather than adding an interest to a profile.
That distinction is worth understanding before you choose anyone — including us. The comparison guide lays out what the certification requires and when it genuinely matters.
- AASECT-certified vs. non-certified sex therapist — what the credential requires, and when it changes the outcome
- Vanessa Cushing's credentials in full — licences, training and where each one is verifiable
Common questions
Do I have to live in Florida to be seen?
You have to be physically located in Florida at the time of the session. That is how therapy licensure works everywhere in the United States — the licence follows the client's location, not their mailing address. If you live in Florida but travel, we will talk about which sessions can go ahead and which need rescheduling.
Is online sex therapy as effective as sitting in a room?
For this particular work, video holds up well. Sex therapy is talk-based and homework-based — there is never any physical examination or contact of any kind — so almost nothing is lost by doing it over a secure connection. What is gained is significant: no waiting room, no commute, and the exercises get practised in the bedroom where they belong rather than described in an office.
What does it cost, and does insurance cover it?
Fees and the insurance picture are set out in full on the insurance guide rather than buried here. In short: this is an out-of-network practice, superbills are provided on request, and many plans reimburse a share of the fee. The 15-minute consultation is free and exists so you can ask about money without committing to anything.
What actually happens in the first session?
Mostly listening. The first session maps out what is happening, how long it has been happening, what has already been tried, and what you want to be different — including a straightforward sexual history, asked matter-of-factly. You leave with an initial read on what is driving the problem and a plan for what comes next.
Do you see individuals, or only couples?
Both. Plenty of sexual concerns are best worked on alone — performance anxiety, shame carried from earlier experiences, a mismatch you have not yet raised with your partner. Others need both people in the room. If you are not sure which applies, that is a normal thing to arrive undecided about.
Read next
- What sex therapy actually is
- AASECT-certified vs. non-certified
- Individual vs. couples sex therapy
- Does insurance cover sex therapy?
Other states served
Cushing Counseling holds licences in four jurisdictions. If you are not in Florida, start here instead:
The consultation is fifteen minutes, free, and genuinely a conversation rather than a sales call — including the part where we tell you if what you are describing is not something sex therapy is the right answer for.