Paula Kirsch (she/her)

As part of the LGBTQ community our issues are near and dear to my heart! I love working with "family." Minority stress is real! Many of us have suffered trauma of one kind or another. I believe the "work" that we do to figure out who we are (and how to survive an environment that is often hostile) contributes to our resilience. My internship was at Affirmations LGBT Community Center, where I learned a great deal about the issues we face as a community and how to overcome them,

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, this work is personal for me , not just professional. I understand minority stress from the inside, and I know how much it matters to work with a therapist who genuinely gets it rather than one who is simply trying to be affirming. I believe figuring out our identity — and learning to survive and thrive despite hostility, builds real resilience. My internship at Affirmations LGBT Community Center deepened that understanding profoundly.

As a sex therapist, couples work is central to what I do, and I bring both sex therapy and couples counseling training to every session. I use the Gottman Method because it's grounded in decades of research, practical, and genuinely effective. It gives couples real tools, not just insight. My goal is to help you communicate in ways that work; so you leave therapy with skills you can use on your own.

I am currently a Level 2 Gottman practitioner. The Gottman approach includes a thorough assessment of the couple relationship and integrates research-based interventions to help couples cultivate healthy lasting relationships.

I am Gottman Level II trained, which means I go beyond communication skills into the deeper architecture of relationships, how couples build trust, manage conflict, and create lasting connection. The Gottman Method is one of the most rigorously researched approaches in couples therapy. I use it because it works, and because I've seen firsthand the difference a structured, evidence-based framework makes for couples who feel stuck.

I have completed multiple Brainspotting trainings, including work with its founder, David Grand; which means I've learned this modality from the source. Brainspotting is a brain-body approach that processes what talk therapy often can't reach. I use it because I've experienced its impact personally, not just clinically. For clients carrying trauma, shame, or emotional blocks that haven't shifted with other approaches, it can be quietly transformative.

I am a Board Certified Sex Therapist through the International Board of Sexuality Professionals (IBOSP); one of the highest credentials in the field. I hold a Sexual Health Certificate from the University of Michigan and am a PhD student in sexology at the Modern Sex Therapy Institutes. Sex therapy is not a sideline for me; it is the core of my practice, my ongoing training, and my academic work.

I've worked with LGBTQ+ clients throughout my career and am deeply committed to affirming care — not as a checkbox, but as a clinical value. I understand minority stress, identity-based shame, and the exhaustion of having to explain yourself before the real work can begin. You won't need to do that here. This includes affirming support for kink, BDSM, polyamorous, and ethically non-monogamous clients across all orientations and relationship structures.

Couples work is central to what I do, and I bring both sex therapy and couples counseling training to every session. I use the Gottman Method because it's grounded in decades of research and gives couples real tools, not just insight. Couples work begins with a joint intake, a Gottman relationship assessment, and individual sessions with each partner before we set goals together.

Women's sexual health is a specialty within my specialty. I work with women navigating vaginismus, dyspareunia, pelvic pain, low desire, arousal concerns, postpartum sexual changes, and menopause. Many of my clients come referred by their OB/GYN or pelvic floor physical therapist. Your sexuality does not have an expiration date — and you don't have to just live with it.