University of Minnesota Physicians Center for Sexual Health provides compassionate patient care in sexual health for individuals, couples, and families of all backgrounds and ages. Patient assessment and treatment is available in the areas of relationship and sexual problems therapy, compulsive sexual behavior, sexual offending, transgender health services, sexual abuse, and HIV counseling, as well as psychological treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Phone Numbers
To make an appointment: 612-625-1500
Clinic Location
Center for Sexual Health
1300 2nd Street S., Suite 180
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Clinic Hours
| Monday |  | 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.* |
| Tuesday | | 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.* |
| Wednesday | 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.* | |
| Thursday | 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.* | |
| Friday | 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. |
Clinic Director(s): Eli Coleman, PhD, LP
Providers in the Practice
Care Provided
Our physicians provide care for many medical conditions including (but not limited to) the following:
- Compulsive Sexual Behavior
- Emotional Pain with Sexual Activity
- Erectile Dysfunction (ED)
- Gender Identity Disorder
- Hepatitis
- Mental Health
- Orgasm Problems
- Physical Pain with Sexual Activity
- Premature Ejaculation
- Sexual Abuse
- Sexual Desire Discrepancies
- Sexual Harassment
- Sexual Offending
- Sexual Orientation
- Sexual Problems
- Transgender Health
Care Provided at the Center for Sexual Health
The Center for Sexual Health promotes the sexual health of individuals, couples, and families of all backgrounds and ages by providing assessment and treatment. Our professional staff members have received specialized training in human sexuality, psychology, psychiatry, and medicine and are credentialed through state and national organizations.
- Abuse Recovery
- Compulsive Sexual Behavior
- HIV Counseling
- Relationship and Sex Therapy
- Sexual Offender Treatment Program
- Transgender Health Services
This program provides services for men and women who have had physical, sexual, or emotional abuse in their past. The goal of the program is to address the effects the abuse has on you and/or your partner. Our philosophy is that people who have been abused have experienced what it is like to be powerless; we structure therapy as a place where you can reclaim your power.
How to Get Started
When you call us, our office staff will listen to your needs and match you with a therapist specializing in the treatment of people who have been abused. You will be scheduled for one or two assessment sessions, which will help your therapist learn more about your issues and help you learn more about our program.
What to Expect
The issues you are dealing with may be painful to face. We realize that this can be a very scary and difficult process. We're here to give you support, encouragement, and affirmation in your process of facing and overcoming your history of abuse in order to become stronger and happier in your present day life.
Your therapy will be divided into three specific sections. These are:
- Examining past abuse
- Assessing how past abuse is reflected in your current life
- Defining new directions and goals for your future by learning self-assertion and self-responsibility.
Compulsive sexual behaviors are recurrent, intense, and distressing behaviors, and interfere with interpersonal and intimate relationships. These behaviors are often associated with anxiety, embarrassment, and shame. Both men and women suffer from compulsive sexual behavior.
Is Compulsive Sexual Behavior a Problem in Your Life?
- Do you or others who know you find that you are overly preoccupied or obsessed with sexual activity?
- Do you feel guilty or ashamed about some of your sexual activity?
- Do you find yourself constantly searching or scanning the environment for a potential sexual partner?
- Do you obsessively use pornography, phone lines, or the Internet for sexual satisfaction?
- Have you had numerous love relationships that are short-lived, intense, and unfulfilling?
- Do you ever find yourself sexually obsessed with someone who is not interested in you or doesn't even know you?
Getting Started
The first step is to contact us to schedule an evaluation. Male and female therapists are available. The evaluations are designed to give you an opportunity to discuss your concerns and needs as well as to develop an individual treatment plan.
Compulsive Sexual Behavior Therapy
We offer effective treatment for individuals to gain control over their obsessive and compulsive behavior. Treatment plans include individual psychotherapy sessions, group therapy, and family therapy. Group therapy consists of a weekly two-hour group session. The group is composed of six to eight members and is led by a therapy team consisting of a faculty member and a post-doctoral fellow. Our goals are to build positive and healthy attitudes, values, and behaviors regarding sexuality. Monthly group aftercare sessions are available once treatment is complete.
Partner Services
Often the partner of an individual suffering from compulsive sexual behavior is also quite distressed. We offer a short-term group, individual, and couples therapy; as well as an aftercare support group to address the needs of partners.
The Center for Sexual Health offers outpatient counseling for people with HIV and AIDS, their families, partners, and friends.
Clinical Services
Individual, couples, and family therapy options are available. A psychiatrist and a physician are available to provide supplemental services as needed. In addition, group therapy sessions are offered to focus on the mental health concerns and unique challenges associated with being HIV positive. These sessions are designed to offer participants a safe environment for sharing the realities of living with HIV or AIDS. Common themes include:
- Learning to live with HIV and AIDS
- Empowerment and living effectively
- Depression, anxiety, and adjustment issues
- Intimacy and relationships
- Being sexual
- Asserting yourself and your rights
- Changes in body image
- Death and dying concerns
How to Get Started
Upon calling our clinic, you will be scheduled for a one-hour session with a therapist specializing in the HIV field. This session is an opportunity to explore your concerns and to identify a plan to address them.
Further information about these services is provided without charge. Through funding from the Minnesota Department of Health, assessment and therapy are available free of charge to people with no insurance or inadequate insurance coverage.
Our therapists have extensive training in the fields of marriage, family, and sexual relationships. You can use their knowledge and guidance to help you improve your sexual functioning as well as your relationship. Topics that frequently come up for discussion include:
- Conflict resolution
- Communication skills
- Fear of intimacy
- Divorce/previous relationships
- Children and parenting issues
- Premarital counseling
- Different relationship expectations
- Health problems and limitations
- Grief, death, or loss
- Financial disagreements
- Differences in religious beliefs
- Division of household or other tasks
- Male/female roles
- Leisure activities
- Extramarital relationships
- Relationships with family, friends, and in-laws
Sexual Concerns
Factors that may contribute to a sexual disorder include limited or inaccurate information, medical problems, and psychological concerns. The following are problems you may want to address:
- Low sexual desire
- Differences in sexual desire levels
- Arousal difficulties
- Difficulty achieving orgasm
- Premature ejaculation
- Erectile dysfunction (impotence)
- Sexual communication
- Performance anxiety
- Pain during sexual activity
- Sexual abuse issues
- Limited or inaccurate information about sex and sexuality
Evaluation
The evaluation is an opportunity for you to determine what type of therapy is best for you and is also a valuable tool in identifying what conditions are contributing to your concerns. You may want to print this page, highlight your areas of concern, and bring it with you to help your therapist target the areas of most importance to you.
Men's Intimacy/Women's Sexual Health Groups
You must complete an evaluation before joining either of these groups.
- The men's group focuses on issues of intimacy and sexuality. The prospective group member is either currently having difficulty establishing the desired amount of intimacy in his personal relationship(s) or has had a history of such difficulties.
- The women's group is for women who want to enrich their sexuality and for women addressing issues such as low desire, difficulty with orgasm, pain with sexual activity, or recovery from past abuse.
For over 25 years, the University of Minnesota's Program in Sexual Health has provided comprehensive evaluations and treatment for men and women involved in harmful sexual behavior. Our research-based model and sensitive treatment of the individuals involved are highly respected and recognized internationally.
Sex offender treatment is provided on an outpatient basis for both men and women. You do not need to be court-ordered to get treatment. Many clients come in voluntarily. Offenses may include:
- Incest
- Child molestation
- Voyeurism
- Exhibitionism
- Obscene phone calls
- Rape
- Internet-related sexual offenses
Our program is designed to help you eliminate sex offending behaviors. You will:
- Learn what behaviors led up to your offending
- Learn what triggers your offending and ways to avoid risky situations
- Gain support from those with similar issues
- Learn better ways to deal with everyday stressful situations
- Develop a maintenance plan for sustaining your newly learned coping skills
How to Get Started
Call our office. You will be scheduled for a minimum of three hours of interviews and will need to complete required psychological tests. Additional information may be obtained from your partner, attorney, the courts, or other sources if necessary.
What to Expect
After being accepted into the treatment program you must attend:
- Weekly group sessions led by male and female co-therapists
- Individual therapy sessions twice each month
- Quarterly sessions with your probation officer
- Required family therapy sessions
These sessions will be continued throughout the duration of the treatment program, which lasts approximately two to three years.
After Care
Group therapy is required after completion of the sex offender treatment program. The group meets monthly to address healthier relationships and communication issues that are important for your ongoing stability.
Court Evaluations
Your lawyer or judge may require that you undergo an evaluation either before or after being charged with an offense. After completing our regular assessment interviews and testing, we will offer general impressions and treatment recommendations that may impact what happens to you in court.
The Center for Sexual Health serves the special health needs of the diverse transgender community, including individuals who identify as transgender, transexual, crossdresser, bigender, drag queen, drag king, female impersonator, and their families. We welcome all of you.
Clinical Services
- Psychological, physical, and psychiatric evaluations
- Individual, group, couple, and family psychotherapy
- Evaluation and treatment of children and adolescents
- Physical health care, including prescriptions of appropriate medications and hormones
- Recommendations for sex reassignment surgery
- Ongoing support for transgender and transexual individuals who have had sex reassignment
- Counseling for intersexuality
- Sex therapy
Sex Reassignment Services
The Center for Sexual Health offers up-to-date hormone therapy and facilitates referrals to a network of surgeons competent in breast augmentation, chest reconstruction, and genital reconstructive surgery (both male-to-female and female-to-male). Recommendations for hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery are based on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's Standards of Care.
Consultation and Training
A wide variety of consultations are available:
- Coming out in the workplace
- Transgender sensitivity training
- Forensic assessments
- Expert witness testimony
- Seminars, lectures, and workshops
- Continuing education of health and social service providers
Transgender Therapy Groups
These groups are designed to explore gender identity and to discover a comfortable gender role. The groups are affirmative of a spectrum of gender identities and provide opportunities to learn from each other's experiences. Facilitated by a therapist, the groups meet twice a month.
Therapy for Crossdressers and Their Partners
Individual, couple, and family psychotherapy are available for those who crossdress and their partners. Therapy focuses on understanding and effectively managing the desire to crossdress. Common issues for the crossdresser are shame, secrecy, compulsivity, and fear of discovery. Common feelings of partners are shock, confusion, self-blame, anger, betrayal, fear, and acceptance. The effects of crossdressing on intimate relationships and sexual functioning are addressed.
Community Advisory Board
The Center for Sexual Health values direct community input and feedback. The Transgender Health Services are guided by a community advisory board representative of the diversity of the local transgender community.
Related Clinics, Centers and Programs
Program in Human Sexuality
The University of Minnesota's Program in Human Sexuality is committed to promoting healthy sexual behavior through research, education, clinical services, and community outreach.