Sex Therapy in Riverside
Honest, grounded conversations about sex, intimacy, and desire.
Weekly 50, 75, or 90-minute sessions · Secure video sessions · Serving Riverside residents and clients across California
Honest, grounded sex therapy for Riverside residents.
A Riverside marriage often gets scheduled around the 91. One partner is on the freeway before six to beat the worst of it into Orange County, home again after dark having spent three hours of the day in a car, and the relationship gets whatever's left, which is a tired hour on the couch before sleep. Couples here frequently made a shared, hopeful decision: buy the house in Orangecrest or the Wood Streets, give the kids a yard, treat the drive as the price of it. The house is real. So is the slow cost of it. What I see most often is two people who love each other and love their life on paper, and who haven't had an unhurried conversation since the commute swallowed their evenings.
Riverside is the anchor of the Inland Empire, and its neighborhoods wear that history in plain view. The Wood Streets keep their historic craftsman homes, Victoria Avenue still runs past the old citrus groves that made the city, Canyon Crest sits up near UCR, and Orangecrest and Arlington fill the newer edges where young families stretch to buy. People move to Riverside for a reason that's easy to understand and hard to live with: a house here is still possible, and the work that pays for it usually isn't. So they commute. The 91 into Orange County is close to legend for how badly it backs up, the 60 and the 215 carry the rest, and Metrolink pulls out of downtown Riverside before dawn. Sixty to ninety minutes each way is normal. Meanwhile the local economy has tilted hard toward logistics and warehouse work, the distribution centers that blanket the region, alongside UCR, the county offices, and the hospitals. Add triple-digit summer heat and large multigenerational households under one roof, and the day is full before anyone thinks about the marriage. The couples and individuals I see in Riverside are rarely in dramatic crisis. They're worn thin by distance and time, holding a life that looks right and feels far away, and they want a steady hour to close some of that gap.
About Sex Therapy
Sex therapy for individuals and couples navigating desire, intimacy, sexual identity, and the topics that are often hardest to talk about. My approach is non-judgmental, sex-positive, and inclusive of all relationship structures, identities, and orientations. We talk about what's actually going on, and we work toward what you actually want.
Between a punishing commute and the large multigenerational households that make Riverside affordable, a couple can go a long time with neither the energy nor the private space for intimacy. Sex therapy online sets aside an unpressured, sex-positive hour for talking about desire and what exhaustion has crowded out, on secure video whenever the house finally clears enough to speak freely.
What to expect
- An initial intake session to understand your goals and history
- Weekly sessions of your chosen length: 50, 75, or 90 minutes
- Open, honest conversation in a non-judgmental space
- Inclusive of all identities, orientations, and relationship structures (kink, poly, mono, LGBTQ, trans, all welcome)
- A pace that follows your comfort. There's no rush
Common reasons people come in
- —Differences in desire between partners
- —Sexual disconnection or loss of intimacy
- —Pain, dysfunction, or physical concerns affecting sex
- —Sexual identity, orientation, or coming-out work
- —Kink, ENM, and non-traditional relationship structures
- —Recovering from sexual trauma or shame
- —The Inland Empire commute eating the relationship, sixty to ninety minutes each way over the 91 or on Metrolink, so the marriage is left with a tired hour after dark and not much else
Weekly 50, 75, or 90-minute sessions
- All sessions held online via secure HIPAA-compliant video
- Cancellation policy: 24 hours
- Currently accepting new Riverside clients
Why online sessions are a good fit for Riverside
Online therapy removes the trade-off that quietly ends a lot of Inland Empire therapy before it starts. Many Riverside residents already spend sixty to ninety minutes each way commuting the 91 to Orange County or riding Metrolink from downtown, and once they're finally home, driving back out for a weekly evening appointment is the first thing to get cut. Meeting by secure, HIPAA-compliant video means the session happens from your living room in Canyon Crest, a quiet office near UCR, or a parked car before you walk in the door. It also widens your options. Riverside is the seat of a fast-growing county where demand for therapists routinely outpaces supply, and telehealth lets you work with a California-licensed clinician who actually fits you, not just whoever has an opening within a short drive. As an out-of-network provider working entirely online, I meet Riverside clients wherever they are in the state. Real therapy, built around an Inland Empire schedule instead of competing with it.
- No travel time across Wood Streets, Canyon Crest, Downtown Riverside
- Sessions fit into work-from-home schedules
- Privacy and discretion, with sessions from your own home
- Available evenings and select weekend hours
A relational, depth-oriented therapist serving California.
I'm Fanshen Thompson, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) based in California. I work with couples, individuals, and partnerships navigating intimacy, identity, and the slower work of becoming.
I am a certified Gottman trained couples therapist and draw from Emotionally Focused Therapy, Internal Family Systems, attachment theory, and somatic practices. But more than any single modality, I bring myself: a real human who has done, and continues to do, this work.
My practice is online and serves clients across California. The work is honest, grounded, and paced to what you can actually carry.
Frequently asked questions
How do online sessions work?
We meet over a secure, HIPAA-compliant video platform. You'll receive a link before each session and join from a private space at home. No app downloads or special equipment beyond a device with a camera and a stable internet connection.
Do I need a special app or platform?
No. The video platform runs in your browser. I'll send a link a few minutes before our session. You click, and we begin.
Is this covered by insurance?
I'm an out-of-network provider. I can provide a superbill you can submit to your insurance for potential out-of-network reimbursement. I'd encourage you to call your insurance and ask about your out-of-network mental health benefits.
How long does it take to see results?
Most people begin to feel something shift within the first several weeks. A little more clarity, a little less alone in it. Real, lasting change is a longer arc, often months of consistent weekly work. I'll be honest with you about what I see along the way.
What is your cancellation policy?
My cancellation policy is 24 hours. Sessions cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice are charged in full.
Can you see clients in Riverside?
A partner just off the 91 and a partner already home can meet on the same screen without either driving again, which for an Inland Empire household is usually the difference between therapy that holds every week and a plan that falls apart by the second month. This works because sessions are online over secure video, my California license good in any county. I see Riverside couples and individuals across the Wood Streets, Canyon Crest, Victoria, Orangecrest, Arlington, and the streets around downtown and UCR. A commute that eats your evenings stops deciding whether you get care.
Ready to start? Let's talk.
Book a free 20-minute consultation. We'll talk about what's going on and whether working together feels right. No pressure, no commitment.