Sean Orpen
He/Him, LMFT-S, CST-S
In starting my career, I completed my bachelor’s degree from UBC, master’s degree
in Marriage and Family Therapy from Seattle Pacific University, and the certification
program from the American Association of Sex Counselors, Educators, and
Therapists (AASECT). As my passion for my profession grew, I knew that I wanted
to do more, and this leads me to begin the process of becoming credentialed as a
sex therapy supervisor and a Marriage and Family Therapy supervisor, which I am in
the process of completing now. Early in my career, I worked closely with and
received supervision from the founders of the Gottman Method at the Relationship
Research Institute as an intervention facilitator and research interviewer on studies
that focused on relational conflict, communication, and decision-making skills. Over
time I began to feel drawn to more community service. Eventually, I moved out of
research and into clinical work, where I served active duty and retired Army and
Special Forces personnel stationed at Joint base Lewis Macchord. What I loved
about this work was a greater focus on relationships, intimacy, and sexuality in those
I served. With all the difficulties that come from war and military life, I found great
value in working directly with individuals and couples to reconnect to their own
desire for intimacy, passion, and vulnerability, which eventually led me towards a
more focused practice in sex therapy.
What You Can Expect
My therapeutic style can best be described as deeply valuing, warm, yet challenging
by those who work with me. I routinely lecture to graduate-level therapists at local
universities around issues of sexuality and atypical sexual practices (Kink/BDSM),
provide supervision and mentorship to new sex therapists in the field, I work closely
with the LGBTQIA+ community, and I deeply value working with folx who seek to
bring more pleasure and self-acceptance into their lives. My private practice focuses
on being inclusive and providing evidence-based treatments rooted in
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MCBT), Functional Analytic
Psychotherapy (FAP), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Gottman Method, and
Solution Focused Psychotherapy.
Books I Suggest
Trainings
- AAMFT approved supervisor
- WAMFT
- AASECT certified sex therapist
- AASECT certified sex therapist supervisor
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)