Do you simultaneously feel like you’re TOO MUCH and somehow also NOT ENOUGH?

Perhaps you consider yourself a “WEIRDO IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING,” having learned to mask in a range of settings?

Are you looking for therapy that honors agency and POSSIBILITIES within a world on fire?

hello!

I am an AASECT certified sex therapist specializing in experiences of trauma and dissociation. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) scaffolds my approach to treatment, with ego state theories (I use terms such as “parts work”) always in action. 

All experiences, social locations, and identities (including all genders and sexualities) are explored together with curiosity through a trauma-attuned lens. This includes those who identify with any flavor of “neurodiverse” or “not perfect enough to be a perfectionist” or “in recovery” or “artsy weirdo” or “hiding my kink” or even “allergic to pathologizing constructs and terms!” 

I frequently make contact with the following in sessions, in no particular order: joy, laughter, slowing down, amazement, curiosity, co-regulation, and the expansiveness of grief and celebration. My default setting is authenticity, which shows up in session with caring, creativity, puns and a nerdy sense of humor.

Prior to entering the world of psychotherapy, my labor history includes letterpress printing & artist bookmaking, and I continue to dabble actively in a range of mark making on paper. Music factors prominently in my life: I play alto sax and clarinet in community honk bands, and midlife introduced me to the spiritual edges of experimental noise. My pronouns are primarily she/her, equally welcoming of they/them. My favorite word is “and.”

AASECT Certified Sex Therapist

services

PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR TRAUMA & DISSOCIATION and SEXUAL WELLNESS

I always (yep, always) filter your experiences through an interdisciplinary lens that includes history: your history, intergenerational histories, the history of your intersecting identities, the history of systems in which we all live. We’ll be exploring meanings of these pasts to make sense of your present, all the while looking towards the future. 

Your sexual wellness therapy for trauma can explore anything from:

  • sexuality
  • gender, both internal identity and external expression
  • boundaries (check out the 8 Elements of Boundaries, below!)
  • communication & consent, particularly for:
    • variations of neurodiversity, such as ADHD, “AuDHD,” experiences of synesthesia, etc
    • dissociation, including those have parts, systems, identify as plural
  • sexual interests (ranging from BDSM & kinks to “vanilla” varieties!)
  • desire discrepancy (fancy for one person is wanting sexual activities more than another is)
  • relationship styles (monogamy, polyamory, and more)
  • influence of developmental and life changes (such as: perimenopause; having children; disability needs)

The most significant overlap integrating trauma and sex therapy treatment is consent! Paired with consent is the commonly used term“boundaries,” and one that I take seriously and with curiosity. The most striking boundary in therapy is that I function to serve your needs within our framework of shared consent. 

I provide both in-person office visits and telehealth. It’s not unusual for people to do a mixture of both!

I am primarily a private, out-of-network provider.

  • Initial phone consultation, 20-30 minutes: no charge.
  • Initial assessment (75 minutes): $250
  • Weekly sessions (60 minutes), for consistency and week-to-week integration: $200
  • Extended sessions* (1.5 hours to 3 hours): $200 per hour, prorated at the same hourly rate, broken into 30 minute increments.
    • Extended sessions are typically scheduled every two to eight weeks depending on what we determine together will best serve your integration. It’s also not unusual to meet for weekly hour-long sessions with extended sessions sprinkled to focus on areas that arise.

If your health insurance plan includes out-of-network coverage, at your request I can  provide a superbill for you to submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement.

  • I am in-network with Optum plans, which include ConnectiCare, Harvard Pilgrim, UnitedHealthcare.

*Extended sessions are sometimes referred to as “intensives,” but don’t worry, not in the scary way!

consultation

Whether it’s a clinical stuck point with a specific client or a generalized interest in bringing more trauma-specific sex therapy skills into your practice, clinical consultation as an opportunity for vulnerability and risk-taking.

Perhaps you want to:

  • Practice addressing anything (yes, anything!) sex-related in clinical contexts.
  • Consult on how sexuality, gender, and sexual preferences relate to dissociation and internal systems.
    • For example, how do we support a client with an internal part who has a gender or sexual preference different that differs?
  • Explore your own positionalities and bias (we all have them all life-long!)
  • Practice applying the Eight Elements of Boundaries.

Depending on your own readiness, we can also get curious doing self-of-the-therapist work by diving into your own patterns and reactions that might be be hiding in plain sight in your sessions with clients. Though consultation differs from psychotherapy, they are an overlapping venn diagram. (If only you could see my eyes twinkling and hear my delighted squealing at the excitement for self-of-the-therapist growth!)

  • Individual consultation: $125 per scheduled hour
  • Consultation for two colleagues: $200 per scheduled hour (y’all decide how you split the cost!)
  • Consultation for three to four colleagues: $75 per scheduled person

Just like the extended duration sessions I offer clients, you have the option for extended consultation. These consultations are prorated at the same hourly rate, broken into additional 30 minute increments.

BOUNDARIES PROJECT

The Eight Elements of Boundaries: Making Visible the Invisible

The Eight Elements of Boundaries (previously called the Eight Dimensions of Boundaries) is a tool highlighting the overlap of boundaries’ psychological and concrete nature.

It is a response to the phrase “I need to set boundaries!” Rather than being prescriptive (ie, an expert knows a “good” or “healthy” boundary) it opens the floor for boundaries to be as unique as the individuals enacting them. The tool emphasizes that all individuals are part of intersecting groups, communities and institutions.

This mega venn diagram is particularly helpful for neurospicy and visual folks to help clarify not only their own needs, but also to understand what others are communicating. It helps you and those with whom you are practicing boundaries get specific in your asks to one another. It offers a strategy not only for speaking, but also for listening. 

I have presented the boundaries framework at:

  • AASECT Annual Conference
  • Connecticut Women’s Consortium 
  • Oxford College of Emory University
  • Woodhull’s Sexual Freedom Summit

860.470.6211 | anne@annethompsonlpc.com | 270 Farmington Ave, Suite 333, Farmington, CT 06032