Graham Prince

I am a sex and relationship therapist working with men and their partners to fix common psychosexual problems and improve their sex lives and relationships. Whether you are struggling to get aroused (low libido), too anxious to perform (erectile dysfunction), climaxing too quickly or too slowly (premature ejaculation or delayed ejaculation) or lacking confidence in communicating about sex with partners, sex therapy offers effective treatment. I also work with men experiencing sexual behaviour that is compulsive, problematic, or not in line with their beliefs and values.

I have over 15 years’ experience working with men to fix sexual problems and to improve their sex lives and relationships. I help men discuss sexual problems openly, often for the first time. I have helped hundreds of men explore and express their unique sexual selves and free themselves from experiences and beliefs that restrict them.

Sex therapy (also known as psychosexual therapy) is a specialist talking therapy that combines psychotherapy and counselling, behavioural exercises, and sex education. Sex therapy focuses on sexual functioning, expression and communication. It helps clients explore and address the psychological issues behind sexual problems.

I qualified as a psychotherapist in 2008 and as a psychosexual and relationship therapist in 2012. I also hold a Masters degrees from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and Oxford University. My psychotherapy experience includes work with MIND, Marriage Care, Relate, and Samaritans. My previous careers include defence and intelligence work and international public relations consultancy.

I work with men experiencing erectile dysfunction (ED), premature ejaculation (PE), low desire, low confidence, sexual anxiety and sex addiction. I use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and mindfulness approaches to help men improve sexual performance and change their behaviour, and tailored talking therapy to help men explore the issues behind their sexual difficulties.

My first existential training underpins my work in psychosexual therapy (PST). We each experience sexuality in our own unique way, but also exist relationally with others in our sexual relationships. I encourage clients to be authentic around sex; to clarify their value system; and to explore their sexual priorities. I attempt to enter the client’s subjective world and accompany them on their journey to understand their experience.

Contemporary PST, in which I undertook my second training, makes the psychodynamic assumption that unconscious processes and unresolved past conflicts influence current behaviour. Treatment is facilitated through cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and constructionist interventions that explore the underlying anxieties and couple dynamics which may perpetuate clients’ problems. I use psychodynamic framing, particularly attachment patterns, to explore client history and relationship patterns. Existentially, I encourage clients to draw their own conclusions about their situation.

Most of my PST clients are men experiencing the anxiety-driven issues of erectile dysfunction (ED) and premature ejaculation (PE). I use CBT homework exercises, largely based around masturbation, as treatment. I also work with couples experiencing sexual difficulties, including low desire, lack of confidence and sexual anxiety. I use CBT approaches, e.g. sensate focus exercises, to enable couples to explore bodies and pleasures and build towards more rewarding sexual experience. I tailor approaches to each client and couple. Since training I have introduced mindfulness techniques to increase client awareness of in-the-moment physical sexual pleasure.

Treatment is framed as a stepped process of experimentation, learning and change. I help clients appreciate the significance of change and work through difficulties, encouraging self-discovery as confidence builds. This constructivist approach encourages clients, with guidance and support, to learn by doing, broaden their experience and build competence.

When sexual difficulties are impacted by a couple’s relationship dynamics, I use attachment-based approaches: Imago, which encourages communication and awareness of relationship dynamics; and emotionally focused couples therapy (EFT), that deepens attachment between partners through identification of mental states not in full awareness. I encourage couples to understand that relationship challenges contributing to sexual difficulties are co-created and that each partner must take responsibility for themselves.