SEX THERAPY CERTIFICATION

Your roadmap toward sex therapy certification starts here.

Build your sex therapy specialty without putting your practice on hold.

Enjoy the flexibility of an online program and the many benefits of live, interactive learning without having to pause your career! You can complete courses from the comfort of your home, dorm, or office and plan your course schedule around your work schedule. Most courses you can’t attend live can be completed asynchronously, or you can wait to attend the next one on the schedule.

Feel better prepared — and more confident — for the conversations your clinical training may not have covered.

Your psychotherapy, social work, or clinical degree program may not have adequately prepared you to address sex, non-traditional relationships, gender, and other deeply personal issues that inevitably come up in your work. It may have even centered normative perspectives that don’t accurately reflect the expansiveness of human sexuality, and promoted outdated myths, harmful pathology, and false assumptions.

EDST is built for clinicians who know there’s more to learn (and unlearn) and are ready to build a progressive, forward-thinking approach to sex therapy.

Live, interactive learning — no recordings, boring lectures, or old repurposed content.

EDST is one of the only sex therapy certifications that centers live, experiential, real-time learning over pre-recorded courses. This means you are supported every step of the way and course content is fresh and up-to-date. Each course features active learning methods like large and small group discussion, individual and partner activities, roleplay, compassionate processing, personal reflection, and more. We use these methods not only for their cognitive and academic benefits, but also because they can help you build socioemotional perspectives that are essential for working in the sexuality field. Plus, they’re great for neurodivergent students — most of our facilitators are some flavor of neurospicy!

Research confirms that active learning improves comprehension of new or challenging material, sparks curiosity and understanding, and better prepares you to put your knowledge and skills into practice. It also fuels critical thinking, which we believe is an essential part of any learning/unlearning experience.

Learn practical sex therapy skills and practice them with your classmates.

You’ll learn real-world skills to support your clients, but also have the opportunity to practice integrating what you’re learning in authentic ways. Each live course allows you to interact with your facilitators and fellow classmates to develop confidence and comfort with the material while also building community. You will build confidence around approaching clients with knowledge, compassion, and care while also putting theory into practice. EDST can help ensure you understand the material AND how to apply it in your sessions.

EDST offers rolling admission, which means you can apply anytime and start courses the following month. Courses are not consecutive, and you can dive in at any point. This program schedule shows you the course lineup, including when the next round of each course will take place.

Get transparent answers to your most pressing questions:

HAVE QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED IN OUR FAQS? TALK TO A HUMAN, NOT A CHAT BOT.

EDST is a good fit if you:

• Prefer an active and interactive learning experience over watching pre-recorded webinars.

• Enjoy or feel inspired by authentic discussions about stigmatized topics.

• Feel driven to use your power to make impactful, incremental change within your field.

• Recognize the political nature of sex, identity, and relationships and/or want to build a stronger understanding of how it all intersects.

• Want a progressive, up-to-date Sex Therapy Certification that will automatically cover the training requirements for AASECT Sex Therapy Certification.*

EDST is NOT a good fit if you:

• Want a pre-recorded, fast-tracked way to get a Certified Sex Therapist credential.

• Feel unwilling to discuss topics like white supremacy, racism, classism, disability, patriarchy, misogyny, transphobia, fatphobia, and more.

• “Stay out of politics” and/or believe sex is not political.

• Want a faith-based training centered in religious values and beliefs.

• Do not support sex workers or believe sex work is work.

• Consider yourself to be “gender critical” or believe that identity-specific words like “cisgender” are offensive.

• Don’t believe that white supremacy or patriarchy exist or impact you.

THE EDST SEX THERAPY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM AT A GLANCE:

Understand your investment with full financial transparency.

EDST offers three tuition tiers, depending on your financial need. Please note that the tier you choose does not include the cost of supervision, which is negotiated, contracted, and paid for directly with your supervisor(s). Every supervisor charges different rates for individual and group supervision, and many provide discounted, tiered, or sliding scale fees. Please review #s 18-19 in our FAQs for more on this. Once you are enrolled, we can provide a list of EDST-endorsed supervisors who are also AASECT-approved.

what it costs:

• STANDARD RATE: $12,520
  This is the cost of the program.

• EQUITABLE RATE: $10,520 (only 2 available in 2027)
  You qualify for this if paying the Standard Rate would mean your basic monthly needs, like housing, food, transportation, or childcare, would not be met or that your financial stability would be put at risk.

• ACCESSIBILITY RATE: $8,520 (only 2 available in 2027)
  You qualify for this if you are unemployed or underemployed, on disability or government assistance, or struggle to make ends meet, and paying the Equitable Rate would prevent you from meeting your basic needs month to month.

Three ways to pay:

Pay in Full: If you pay the full tuition amount up front with your application, you’ll get a generous discount as a thank-you!

• Standard pay in full: $10,520 ($2,000 discount)

• Equitable pay in full: $9,520 ($1,000 discount)

• Accessible pay in full: $8,020 ($500 discount)

12-month Payment Plan (after a $750 deposit due with your application*): This amount includes your tuition tier, plus the cost of managing your payment plan, which includes monthly transaction fees and the cost of labor for our billing staff.

• Standard: $1,022.50/month

• Equitable: $855.83/month

• Accessible: $689.17/month

18-month Payment Plan (after a $750 deposit due with your application*): This amount includes your tuition tier, plus the cost of managing your payment plan, which includes monthly transaction fees and the cost of labor for our billing staff.

• Standard: $681.67/month

• Equitable: $570.56/month

• Accessible: $459.44/month

If you select an Equitable or Accessible payment plan, you must submit your payment plan authorization form within 5 days of submitting your application. We will not hold a discounted tuition rate for you. If we don’t receive your form on time, your seat will be made available to the next eligible applicant.

*Your $750 USD deposit is required with your application. Deposits are non-refundable unless you are not accepted into the program.

For more about tuition and payments, please refer to FAQs #25-32.

PROGRAM BUNDLES:

You have the option of bundling your tuition with other offerings to save time as you build your career or take it to the next level!

• EDST Sex Therapy Certification + AASECT Application Concierge = Tuition + $200
  Our AASECT Application Concierge can help you fill out your AASECT Sex Therapy Certification application with less overwhelm, stress, and confusion! This fee provides you with up to 2 hours of one-on-one help. Review FAQ #9 for more on this.

• EDST Sex Therapy Certification + EDSE Sex Educator Certification + Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR)** = Save up to 20% when you bundle!
  Total discount depends on the tuition tiers you choose and program availability. Please email us directly at edst@everyonedeservessexed.com to get started!

WHAT ABOUT SCHOLARSHIPS?

EDST offers two $11,245 scholarships available only to queer or transgender Black, Indigenous, Brown, Asian American Pacific Islander, and People of Color. This is a need-based scholarship reserved for folks who, without this financial aid, would not be able to attend this program.

Each scholarship recipient is asked to invest $1,800 in their EDST Sex Therapy Certification. This amount can be paid in full, or with a 12-month payment plan.

• 12-month scholarship payment plan: $150/month

Please note: This amount does not include the cost of supervision, which is negotiated, contracted, and paid for directly with approved supervisors. Every supervisor charges different rates for individual and group supervision, and many provide discounted, tiered, or sliding scale fees. EDST does not provide supervision, nor do we broker supervision or profit from it. Please review #s 18-19 in our FAQs for more about this.

If you have access to funding and/or can afford our tiered tuition fees, do not apply for this scholarship. Representatives of businesses, non-profits, and professional organizations are disqualified from receiving this scholarship. Please read #32 in our FAQs before submitting an application.

About our tuition fees:

You might notice that EDST’s tuition is higher than other sex therapy certifications. This is because it is a live, interactive program with courses created specifically for EDST that feature the most up-to-date information, skills, and perspective available. We do not use pre-paid, pre-recorded content or repurpose videos of older classes, and our facilitators are paid the same fee every time they teach for us. We do not use unpaid or underpaid labor from interns or emerging professionals.

EDST is a small business run by a small team. We are self-funded and do not receive outside financial support, government funding, private funding, or capital investment. This gives us 100% control over our content and approach, which is one of the reasons why the EDST program is such high quality and so valuable.

Your tuition enables EDST to operate as an education organization registered in the state of Oregon and afford the costs of running this kind of small business, including but not limited to: fairly compensating support staff, maintaining our CE provider status, renewing liability insurance and other compliance measures, purchasing or creating teaching materials, developing and updating curricula, quality control, completing daily administrative duties, and other “invisible” costs.

Your tuition also makes space for financial aid, which is offered in the form of discounted tuition tiers and scholarships. Every scholarship and discount you see is funded by EDST, which means a reduction in funds that would otherwise go toward operations costs or compensating our staff. We will not respond to requests for additional discounts, scholarships, or free labor.

For more on this, please refer to FAQ #25.

IS THERE A COMMUNITY FUND TO HELP OTHERS AFFORD EDST?

Yes! We understand that some clinicians are financially abundant and wish to help pay it forward for colleagues with financial limitations, which is so generous and kind. If this is you, please review FAQ #42 and follow the steps. THANK YOU!

WHAT ARE EDST’S ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS?

The following accessibility accommodations are standard in EDST programming:

• Attendees are not required to have their cameras or microphones on during the trainings.

• Attendees are encouraged to show up as they are. “Professional” attire or appearance is not expected, nor is it endorsed. Please prioritize your physical needs and comfort.

• Eating, drinking, stretching/moving, and taking bio breaks are permitted and encouraged throughout the training, not just during designated breaktime.

• The text chat is utilized in every training, and attendees are encouraged to participate using the chat if they are unable or do not want to participate verbally. Facilitators read out loud what attendees write in the chat so that it is included in the discussion.

• Every training features live closed captioning, which shows up as white text on a black background at the bottom of the screen. Attendees can adjust the font size according to their needs.

• Each session features a live transcript, which displays what is being said in real time on the right-hand side of the screen.

• Facilitators are provided with written instructions for making their trainings more visually accessible. This includes: using presentations slides and creating them using high-contrast colors, large sans-serif fonts, and graphic and audio descriptions. Slides are also available to attendees to review afterward.

EDST works hard to improve accessibility with each training and we are always exploring capabilities that are unique to an online setting. If you require sign language interpretation, teaching materials additionally modified for vision or hearing impairment, or any other accessibility accommodations not listed here, please email us at edst@everyonedeservessexed.com 75 days prior to Day 1 of the training so we have time to accommodate your needs.

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