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AASECT

Definition

AASECT — the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists — is the leading US professional body for certified sex educators, sex counsellors, and sex therapists. Founded in 1967, AASECT establishes training standards, a code of ethics, and a certification process for practitioners across these three professional roles. AASECT-certified sex therapists (CSTs) have completed graduate-level clinical training plus additional supervised hours in sexuality-specific clinical work and have demonstrated competency through examination.

AASECT is known for its science-informed and ethically rigorous approach to sexual health practice. Notably, AASECT issued a formal position statement in 2016 declining to endorse 'sex addiction' as a clinical diagnosis, citing insufficient empirical evidence — a position that put it at odds with some popular and commercial approaches to compulsive sexual behaviour treatment.

Where the word comes from

AASECT was founded in 1967 in the United States, emerging in the same clinical moment as Masters and Johnson's research and the broader sex therapy field. The organisation developed as sex therapy professionalised and sought to distinguish clinical practice from less rigorous approaches. Its certification marks are internationally recognised as standards of clinical competency in sexual health.

In Tantra Clinic practice

When referring clients to in-person sex therapy in the United States, we suggest seeking AASECT-certified practitioners (CSTs) as a quality and ethics baseline. AASECT's published resources — including their consumer guides to what sex therapy involves — are among the most reliable public-facing materials available. We are a program and education service, not a clinical service, and do not hold AASECT certification as an organisation.