Dear Sarah,

I’m a cognitive neurologist and most people in my field feel that psychology in general and psychotherapy in specific are not just out of date but obsolete. Now that we can actually watch the brain work using modern technology, much of the guesswork had been taken out of therapy. I would guess that your approach primarily engages the dopaminergic reward pathway. That is potentially testable and measurable. Something to consider for your Ph.D.

There were experiments in nude therapy in the Sixties and Seventies. The Esalen Institute in California comes to mind. The theory was that the psychological guard comes off with the clothing. The openness and honesty necessary for effective therapy can be achieved quickly in a nude environment. Sexually based issues were a part but not the complete focus of nude therapy. With your practice, sexual focus seems to be the main pillar of your method and sex-based problems the mainstay. Your clientele are overwhelmingly male. Would you agree?

I wouldn’t worry about licensing unless you intend to do conventional therapy. Licensing boards and professional associations are more about maintaining standards of practice rather than providing cover for experimentation and testing new ideas beyond the currently accepted state of the art.

L. MD, PhD.