Somatic sexology is a practice modality that supports people to understand and expand their sexual wellbeing through the body as well as the mind. Rather than treating sexual concerns as cognitive or behavioural, somatic sexology focuses on breath, sensation, movement, boundaries, communication and embodied awareness.

Through education, coaching and experiential learning, somatic sexology invites people to reconnect with their bodies, deepen pleasure, and cultivate a more curious, compassionate and authentic relationship with their sexuality. Sessions are educational, exploratory, and grounded in consent, safety and body-based awareness.

Somatic sexology and psychological therapy share some commonalities, but also have significant points of difference. Psychological therapies focus primarily on emotions, memories, thoughts, and beliefs; whereas, somatic sexology focuses more on sensation, breath, arousal patterns, nervous-system responses and pleasure pathways. However, both psychological therapy and somatic sexology may include elements such education, challenging unhelpful beliefs, home practices, and exploring the origins of certain behaviours or habits.

The two modalities can and often do work synergistically together. A common scenario might be someone who has completed EMDR work with a psychologist for sexual trauma, who now wants to work with a somatic sexologist to focus on how to experience sexual pleasure, either alone or with a partner.

The kinds of concerns people might bring to somatic sexology sessions are wide-ranging. They can include lowered libido or difficulty feeling arousal, a sense of boredom in sexual experiences, or physical challenges such as vaginismus or early ejaculation.

Many clients notice shifts in desire or sexual function that come with aging, hormonal changes, or life transitions. Others struggle with sexual shame or internalised messages that interfere with pleasure, or find it difficult to express their sexual desires to their partners. Some may have questions like “what do I actually enjoy?” or “why do I have these sexual beliefs?” and are seeking a safe, non-judgmental space to explore these questions. Somatic sexology sessions provide tools and guidance for clients to navigate these concerns.

Each 60-minute session begins with checking in with your body, noticing how you are feeling and what you’d like to explore. We set an intention for the session, and then move into embodied practices tailored to your experience. An intention could be anything, from I’d like to be able to have sex without getting caught up in my head about the size of my thighs, or I want to explore why my libido has flattened and I feel so “meh” about sex. We then use somatic tools like pleasure mapping, arousal scales, or embodied consent to explore sensations, boundaries, and body awareness to help meet your intention.

Sessions conclude with us co-creating practical take-home exercises, so that you can continue to cultivate pleasure and agency in everyday life. All sessions are fully clothed, and any self-touch that is invited during the session is non-erotic.

In 2025, I completed a one-year training program with the Institute of Somatic Sexology. This training was grounded in somatic science, pleasure-based learning, and nervous-system-informed coaching. Once formally certified, I’ll be eligible to join the Somatic Sex Educators’ Association of Australasia.

My somatic sexology training builds on my 20 years as a Clinical Psychologist and educator. I’ve worked with people navigating trauma, hormonal transitions, anxiety, eating disorders, depression, and OCD. I’ve completed extensive additional training in practices such as EMDR, schema therapy and mindfulness. Combining this experience with somatic sexology allows me hold the whole person in mind - their mind, body, and nervous system - and help them to bring awareness, curiosity, and care to experiences of intimacy, pleasure, and embodiment.

Somatic sexology sessions are for anyone who wants to feel more at peace in their body and experience greater sexual pleasure, or to reconnect with the erotic part of themselves. Somatic sexology sessions can help individuals and couples to experience more ease, pleasure, curiosity and self-understanding, and to build a healthier, more compassionate relationship with their sexuality over time.

At Bosca Health, my work centres on women’s wellbeing across the lifespan, so much of my practice is with women. However, I do see men and couples in circumstances where I believe I can genuinely support them. If you’re unsure whether that’s you, please just email me and we can discuss. If I’m not the right practitioner for you, the Somatic Sex Educators’ Association of Australasia has a directory of qualified practitioners to help you find someone to meet your needs.

Somatic sexology is an emerging field with practices still being explored and refined. That said, it draws on a substantial body of established research from multiple disciplines. These include neuroscience (particularly interoception, neuroplasticity, and autonomic nervous system regulation), psychology (attachment theory, trauma theory, and psychosexual development), and somatic sciences.

It is also informed by trauma studies and body-based trauma therapies, including research on bottom-up processing, nervous system regulation, and the role of the body in memory and emotional experience. Additional foundations come from sexology and sexual health research, mindfulness research, movement science, and relational neuroscience, particularly where these fields examine consent, arousal patterns, pleasure, boundaries, and the social and relational contexts of sexuality.

With excitement, the answer is yes. From February 2026, somatic sexology sessions will be offered on Mondays and Thursdays online. In the future, sessions will be offered in the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne with the exact location to be advised in the coming months. You can book using the book session button. Make sure to select the correct session type - 60 min somatic sexology appointment.

A gentle reminder that somatic sexology sessions are not clinical psychology sessions. They do not attract a Medicare or private health insurance rebate, and these sessions operate under a different code of ethics. If during the course of your sessions, it becomes evident that clinical intervention is needed, we will talk about the most appropriate way to proceed and decide together on a safe pathway forward; this may or may not include continuing your work with me but under a clinical psychology framework (for example, using EMDR).