Surrogate Partner Therapy - What can it look like?

I invite you to watch this touching segment from This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN. In this segment, you’ll see Surrogate Partner Emiko working with two different clients. My Surrogate Partner Therapy sessions look very similar.

Be advised that this 25-minute clip contains some discussion of abuse, as well as nudity.

  • Surrogate Partner Therapy with Michelle Renee

    Surrogate Partner Therapy

    Surrogate Partner Therapy (SPT) is a hands-on supplemental modality to talk therapy, used to model and practice healthy relationship skills, communication skills, and intimacy skills. The client, the surrogate partner, and the clinician work together in the triadic model.

    Generally, clients seek Surrogate Partner Therapy because they experience obstacles to emotional or physical intimacy that prevent them from having healthy romantic and/or sexual relationships.

    Some common obstacles may include:

    • Orgasmic or Erectile Difficulty

    • History of Abuse or Assault

    • Sexually Naïve (Late-Life “Virgin”)

    • Social Anxiety

    • Orientation and Identity with LGBTQIA+

    • Genital Pain

    • Disability

    …while others are less immediately apparent.

    Less traditionally, clients may seek SPT due to obstacles around:

    • Lack of nurturing in childhood that has left the client struggling to self-regulate.

    • Struggling to set and hold boundaries.

    • Developing or regaining the ability to experience safety in their body post-SA or other abuse/trauma when moving through the world.

    Regardless of the obstacle, Surrogate Partner Therapy addresses the whole person, rather than the symptoms. We work together to have healthy connections to ourselves and others.

    NOTE: I DO NOT HAVE SEXUAL CONTACT WITH MY CLIENTS

    Think Surrogate Partner Therapy might be a good fit for your client? Let’s connect.

    Learn More about SPT Below

For More Information about Surrogate Partner Therapy