Specialized Systemic Sex Therapy Training for Mental Health & Health Care Professionals
Does sexuality ever come up in your sessions but you’re unsure of how to handle it? Maybe you want to give your clients permission to bring these types of topics up but haven’t been able to since you aren’t sure what to do if and when they do? You’ve read a book (or two, or ten!) but want to provide competent and quality care and have considered investing in some sex therapy training but you’re unsure where to start. This is where we come in – As leading experts in our field, we want to pass along our knowledge so other professionals just like yourself can empower clients around intimacy, sexuality, and sexual difficulties.
Welcome to Allura Sex Therapy Academy, previously known as Westland Academy for Clinical Sex Therapy, Canada’s first and only professional development organization that focuses exclusively on sex therapy & counselling education and development for mental health and health care professionals.
We offer live and self-paced webinars and professional development trainings on a variety of sexual issues that meet your preferred learning style and schedule – taught by certified sex therapists, educators, and professionals, our trainings focus on providing you with the foundational knowledge so you can feel confident talking to talk layered with practical in-session interventions, psycho-education tid-bits, take-home activities and exercises for clients, and client facing worksheets and handouts.
We provide innovative, inclusive, integrative and systemic sex therapy education and training that balances real-world therapeutic concerns, evidence-based practice, and the voices of the populations served. Whether you’re an experienced sex therapist, a trained mental health professional new to working with sexual difficulties, or currently enrolled in training as a therapist – as long as you’re wanting to expand your knowledge around sex-based concerns, sexuality, and sexual difficulties, you’re in the right place.
Our Mission
To empower mental health and health care professionals in developing clinical skills and confidence to work with and address sexuality and sex issues with clients
Our Values
Innovation
sex therapy is always evolving – we look to integrate the newest research and techniques with clinical wisdom and experience to provide students with comprehensive yet digestible learning content and experience
Inclusivity
We believe in the importance of intersectionality and anti-oppression in the education that we provide. We ensure that the voices of the populations that we serve are represented in our programs as well as invite educators and trainers with expertise in sexual wellness who align with our values. Inclusivity reaches into how content is structured, consulting with adult education specialists to ensure that our programs are inclusive of varying learning styles.
Systemic & Integrative
Sex therapy has traditionally been addressed through cognitive-behavioural lenses, including the research that we often see around sexuality, sexual wellness, and sex therapy. At Allura Academy, we provide an integrated and systemic framework when working with sexuality and sexual issues in therapy, drawing from physiology, neurobiology, somatic approaches, and deeper healing modalities to create impactful and long lasting change for clients and increased confidence for professionals.
Current Trainings
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Current Trainings *
The Sexuality Competent Therapist: Foundations
Integrating Sex Therapy Into Your Practice
40 CE Training with Live Days & Self-Paced Learning
Starting September 2025
Presenter(s): Diana Sadat, RCC, CST, CST-S & Ciara Moran, RCC, CST
Most therapists receive very little to no sex therapy training through their graduate program and yet, they are expected to be able to understand, hold space, and support folks in areas they’re struggling with, including sexuality. Foundational knowledge of sexuality is critical to holding space and helping clients heal; this includes understanding their own biases and assumptions around sex and sexuality and how this impacts their ability to be present with the client with compassion, non-judgement, and acceptance.
In this training, students will become aware of their existing biases around different types of sexuality and how to integrate sex therapy principles into their existing practice. This training is not meant to make them a sex therapist; however, it will give students the confidence to work with different sex and sexuality issues that might come up in the therapy room with individuals and couples, including assessment and techniques for a variety of sexual issues. Students will leave the course equipped with a sense of how these foundational principles might fit into their practice and where to begin in assessing, understanding, and working with the tools and techniques provided.
Penis Problems: Working with ED, DE, PE
12 CE Credits
The course encourages you to critically examine your own personal beliefs, biases, stories, and reactions to penis problems and existing treatments, and consider how these show up in your office as you relate to clients. Our goal is to help you become a ED/PE/DE-informed practitioner by helping you expand your knowledge around working with Erectile Dysfunction, Premature Ejaculation, and Delayed Ejaculation
BDSM: Working with Kinky Clients
6 CE Credits
This online program will introduce you to many of the fundamental issues and concerns facing those practicing BDSM, and those in the BDSM community. It will help increase your confidence and competencies in working with clients from the kink community, as well as help you explore your own sexual beliefs to identify biases and assumptions that may get in the way of working with this group. Participants will develop a basic understanding of the principles and techniques of sex therapy as it relates to BDSM and how this relates to becoming a Kink-Aware practitioner, as well as help you gain new knowledge and an expanded ability to integrate new insights about sex and sexuality in a clinical setting.
Sex & Trauma: Helping Clients Move Beyond Trauma & Reclaim Their Sexuality
12 CE Credits
This training is focused specifically on helping clients focus on healing the sexual parts of themselves and learn to not only regain their "no", but reconnect and experience the pleasure of their sexuality. Participants will learn tools for assessment and conceptualization of sexual difficulties, both relationally and sexual functioning, through a trauma-informed lens and how to adapt treatment planning for sexual difficulties based on a clients' sexual and trauma histories.
We offer other programs and trainings related to Gender, Consent, and Painful Sex, plus supervision & consultation opportunities!
