Your intimacy is worth investing in.

You used to enjoy sex, or at least feel like you understood it. Now it feels distant, disconnected, or complicated. Maybe you find yourself avoiding it altogether or going through the motions while feeling numb, anxious, or ashamed.

You wonder if something is wrong with you. If you are broken. If you will ever feel good in your body again.

You are not broken.

You are human, and your sexuality is shaped by everything you have been through — your past, your culture, your relationships, your body, and the messages you have received about what intimacy should look like. Sorting through all of that on your own can feel overwhelming, especially when sex and connection no longer feel safe, pleasurable, or authentic.

That is where I come in.

Jessica VerBout
M.A., LMFT, CST, CST-S
Certified Sex Therapist &
Certified Brainspotting Therapist
in Minnesota & Vermont

I offer a supportive space where you can explore your sexual self with compassion and curiosity. Whether you are navigating shame, desire, arousal, identity, kink, relationship challenges, or sexual trauma, you do not have to keep pushing through or figuring it out alone. Therapy with me is sex-positive, affirming, and centered around your unique experiences and goals.

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and Supervisor, and Certified Brainspotting Therapist with more than 16 years of experience helping people just like you reclaim their sexuality and reconnect with themselves. I specialize in working with individuals and couples who are navigating complex feelings around intimacy, problematic sexual behavior, non-traditional relationship structures, and healing from relational or sexual trauma.

I use both traditional talk therapy and Brainspotting, a powerful body-based method that helps you access and release emotional patterns that are stored deep in your nervous system. Together, we work to reconnect you to the parts of yourself that already know how to heal, how to feel pleasure, how to want again, and how to build intimacy in ways that feel safe, empowering, and authentic.

Therapy is not about fixing you. It is about helping you find your way back to yourself — with clarity, with compassion, and with confidence.

You deserve to feel at ease in your body and in your relationships. You deserve to feel like your sexuality belongs to you again.

Let us work together to help you feel more like yourself.

What’s it like to work with me

My Guiding Principles & Methods

Compassion

I foster a non-judgmental and empathic environment that allows my clients to explore their sexual concerns and desires without shame or guilt. Using high levels of empathy I am able to help those clients who have felt so isolated, alone, and invalidated for far too long finally feel seen and heard. I am proud of my skill of offering compassionate care to those who may need it the most.

Maintaining a therapeutic environment that encourages exploration, understanding, acceptance, and positive growth, I use active listening, validation, and sensitivity to your needs to help you feel at ease in discussing your intimacy.

Comfort

Safeguarding my client’s private information is at the highest importance for me and my work. Maintaining strict confidentiality and ethical practices, I keep my client’s sensitive information under the highest standards. My physical and virtual offices maintain these privacy practices, so my clients can rest assured every moment of their session is kept between only us.

Privacy

I do not approach my clients with a pre-determined set of goals and judgements, even though I may have helped others with similar struggles. My clients are the ones dictating their treatment from the first session until the last.

Client-Centered

Using a “sex positive” approach to my treatment means I embrace a non-judgmental and affirming approach to sexual attractions, behaviors, identities, and processes. With this approach, I encourage my clients to express and explore their sexual concerns without shame or guilt, and instead help them to foster a view of their sexuality where diversity, consent, understanding, and open communication are celebrated to help them cultivate healthy and fulfilling sexual well-being.

Sex Positivity

Education, Licenses, Certifications, Brainspotting Trainings, & Services

  • Bachelor’s of Arts in Child Psychology & Development, Minors in English & Japanese (University of Minnesota, 2005)

  • Master’s of Arts in Marriage & Family Therapy (St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, 2008)

Education

  • Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (since 2011) in Minnesota

  • Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (since 2022) in Vermont

  • Certified Sex Therapist from the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, & Therapists (AASECT; since 2015)

  • Certified Brainspotting Therapist (since 2025)

Professional Licenses & Certifications

  • Brainspotting Phase 1

  • Brainspotting Phase 2

  • Brainspotting with Addictions & Unwanted Behaviors (Crocodile Set Up)

  • Certified since Jan. of 2025

Brainspotting Trainings

  • Board Approved Marriage & Family Therapist Supervisor in Minnesota (since 2018)

  • Certified Sex Therapist Supervisor from the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, & Therapists (AASECT; since 2023)

  • PREPARE/ENRICH Certified Provider (since 2013)

  • Trained in Gottman Method Level 1

Professional Services

My Services & Fees

  • $225 per session (0-60 min.)

    Insurance Accepted: UCare

  • $225 per session (0-60 min.)

    Insurance Accepted: UCare
    Note: Insurance may not cover “couples therapy,” in which case the cost reverts to the out of pocket fee.

  • $340 for 90 min. for either individual or relationship sessions.

    $450 for 2 hour session.

    (No insurance coverage at this time for extended sessions.)

  • Therapy intensives are not covered by insurance. Intensives are ideal for individuals wanting to tackle their healing and relationship work more aggressively.

    Minimum of 4 hours to start, up to 6 hours, total in one day at $225/hour ($900-$1,350)

  • Jessica VerBout, LMFT, CST, CST-S is a Minnesota Board Approved Supervisor for those pre-licensed mental health practitioners working towards independent licensure in Marriage and Family Therapy in MN.

    $80 per individual supervision session
    $90 per group supervision session
    $100 per AASECT + MFT supervision session

  • Professional supervision for those nearly-licensed and licensed mental health professionals seeking to complete the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapist's (AASECT) requirements to becoming a Certified Sex Therapist.

    Individual Session Fee: $150/session

    Group Fee: $90/group/supervisee