Depression Support Group (this group has nothing to do with sex therapy) depression support group in Center City Philadelphia Learn how to: Identify depression, and how it affects people Decrease isolation Explore the mind/body connection Learn other’s perspectives Improve communication Utilize behavioral-cognitive methods for coping Develop strategies for change Call now to sign up for the dep...
Grief, Loss & Sexuality
Dating After Loss Dating after loss: knowing when to start dating after losing a spouse or significant other is one of the difficult tasks that accompanies losing the person. There are many factors that need to be addressed before the decision to start dating again can be made. The first thing to keep in mind is that there is no specific time frame for when to start dating again. Grieving ...
Grief, Loss & Sexuality
The Cycle of Grief The cycle of grief- grief therapy treatment in Philadelphia. Loss of any kind is a harrowing experience, particularly the loss experienced after the death of a loved one. The “hole” or “space” left behind after a death seems to ache. This is the shock that is felt by those still living. The gradual recovery from this shock is known as the grieving process. Many have heard that...
Types Of Therapy
How to Seek a Culturally Competent Therapist What’s culture got to do with it? People are more than their skin tone…we are individuals, we are representatives of our families, communities, race, ethnicity, and heritage. When seeking a culturally competent therapist these are the factors they should take into consideration. Some important points to consider include whether the prospective therapist understan...
Wellness and General Mental Health Concerns
Couples and finances: how to figure out your money personality Figuring out your money personality: do you often find yourself fighting with your partner about money? Perhaps no matter how often you argue about money, the two of you can never come up with an agreement that works, so you just keep doing your own thing? By default, the lack of agreement is an agreement. When individuals enter into a relations...
Anxiety & Sex
Coping with Stress and Anxiety - Feeling stressed or being anxious is something we are all going to feel at some point in our lives. Sometimes individuals can feel stress and anxiety and not know what is causing it. It can be just a vague feeling of dread or feeling overwhelmed. Your anxiety or stress can be a mild sense of uneasiness or feel very extreme with heart palpitations, sweating, ...
Children, Teens and Sexuality
Coping With Internalized Homophobia - You may believe that you are lesbian or gay. In addition, you also may fear that you are lesbian or gay. You may also wish that you weren’t lesbian or gay and that there was a way to deny these feelings. What would your family think? What would your friends think? What would the world think? And also, how do you feel about being lesbi...
Trauma, Sexual Abuse & Rape
Confronting the Abuser Confronting the Abuser: the goal of confronting your abuser is for you to regain your voice and re-do things so that you can play an active role. You can change the outcome of history for others who would be affected by the abuser and rewrite yours so that he or she no longer has control over your life. There are many ways to be confronting your abuser. You can write a letter (w...
Wellness and General Mental Health Concerns
Conflict Resolution: Looking at conflict from your partner's perspective a key concept learned in couples and marriage counseling The Scenario: Two lovers in a heated fight: One person thinking “You make me so mad! If you would have just done “it” the way I wanted we would not have be in this argument right now!” The other person is sitting on the opposite side thinking “You never see my point of v...
Sexual Self Esteem
Need a Quick Confidence Boost? Try a Mantra How to boost your self-confidence in just a few minutes: If you’re just about to go into an important meeting, give the biggest presentation of your life, or are just having one of those days a mantra is a great way to make the jitters, and butterflies simply fade away. So what is a mantra? A Mantra is a word or a statement that is repeated over and over again so ...
Wellness and General Mental Health Concerns
Communication without the Explanations: A How-To guide for the Speaker and the Listener. This communication without explanations tip was designed for the couple that is already in therapy to be used at home between sessions. For many, communication without explanations is a challenging task. It means the speaker communicates his/her experience and perspective without the listener defending, blaming, or just...
Wellness and General Mental Health Concerns
Communication Problems A collection of articles designed to improve communication problems. Brought to your by relationship therapists at the Center for Growth / Sex Therapy in Philadelphia. All of these tips & exercises are designed for you to practice at home. This can be done on your own, or as exercises to support your couples therapy that you are actively engaged in. Tips on Developin...
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, or Questioning or Intersex
Coming Out To Family Members - The idea of telling your family members that you are gay or lesbian can be very anxiety-producing. You may have no idea how to tell them and maybe concerned about how they will react to you. As a result, you may even consider keeping that part of you a secret. However, keeping the secret from your family members can be as painful as not coming out at al...
Sex Compulsion & Love Compulsion
The Coaddict: Loss of Identity a sex addict’s life becomes isolated, lonely, and singularly focused on the addictive stimuli. The disease of sex compulsion, however, is crowded and complex, and it affects every person the addict had a relationship with: family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. Some of the addict’s relationships are affected more severely than others, such as the addict’s caret...
Wellness and General Mental Health Concerns
Chronic fatigue: after a long night of sleep, most of us wake feeling refreshed or at least somewhat recovered from the fatigue we felt before going to bed. For those who have chronic fatigue, waking up feeling rested would be a miracle because most of the time, they awake feeling just as exhausted as when they went to bed. This constant fatigue often creates depression, for it is difficult to feel optimist...
Affairs, Cheating & Infidelity
Cheating Cheating is a common term that is used by laypeople. The term cheating is often used synonymously with “illicit affair, infidelity, unfaithful, bamboozle, fool, con, and defraud.” Cheating is frequently thought of as engaging in sexual activity with someone other than your partner or doing something intimate with another person behind a lover’s back without his or her knowledge. Others use a ...
Dating
Cheap Dates in Philly: Fun dates that won’t break the bank Given the economic crunch most of us are in, here is a tip on how to make the most out of dates that are super cheap and super fun! These date ideas are designed to help you get the most out of your quality time with your partner. They are meant to be catalysts for communication within and about your relationship. Since you’re...
Mood Disorders & Sex
Changing Negative Thinking - Everyone thinks negatively from time to time. For some people, it becomes a way of life. Frequent negative thinking contributes to a variety of problems including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, poor body image, sexual problems, etc. Many times, these negative tapes have been playing in a person’s head for years. Whether you have occasional negative...
Enhancements for Sex
Bring Romance Back Into Your Relationship Bringing Romance Back Into Your Relationship If you’re in a longer-term relationship, you likely have longed for the feelings that were present in the beginning, when it was new, intriguing, exciting. You may wonder if you’re with the right person since you no longer light up at the sight of your partner. You may even be ready to end your relationship because it has...
Avoidance / Sexual Aversion
Getting Your Partner on Board With Your Vacation From Sex (The Center for Growth in Philadelphia) You've decided that taking a vacation from sex is an important step for you in healing from your sexual trauma. This vacation is a wonderful opportunity for you to develop a healthy sexuality and to better understand yourself and your partner as sexual beings. But before you begin thi...
