Transcend Training Institute
Advanced clinical training in
sexual health and sex therapy.
Post-graduate certification, continuing education, accredited CME, and CPD for regulated health professionals across Canada. Sexual health presents in every clinical discipline. This is the training that prepares you to assess and treat it competently.
The problem this solves
Sexual health concerns are in your caseload right now. Most clinicians have no training to address them.
Graduate programs in psychology, social work, and counselling devote fewer than three hours to human sexuality across their entire curriculum on average. Clinicians leave training equipped for depression, anxiety, and trauma, and almost nothing for the sexual health concerns that accompany every one of those presentations.
The result is not incompetence. It is a gap. Clients raise sexual health concerns and clinicians change the subject, refer reflexively, or offer reassurance that falls short. Presentations that are common, treatable, and well-understood in the research go unaddressed for years.
This is a solvable problem. For therapists ready to specialize, there is a certification. For those who want targeted CE, there are clinical workshops. For physicians and physiotherapists, there are programs built for their specific context. All of it grounded in current research. All of it immediately applicable.
Sexual health competency is not a specialization reserved for sex therapists. It is an essential enhancement to any clinical practice, available at whatever depth your work requires.
Inside the training
Structured modules, clinical tools,
case-based learning, and
competency-focused evaluation.
Every program is built around the same learning architecture: substantive clinical reading, embedded video, applied case work, and knowledge checks. This is what the learning environment actually looks like.
Core clinical reading, embedded video segments, formative activities, and module knowledge checks with required passing scores. Not passive content. Structured learning with clinical accountability.
Modules build deliberately. Ethical foundation before clinical content. Assessment before intervention. The sequence reflects the way clinical competency actually develops, not the order that happens to be convenient.
Glossaries, scope-of-practice guides, downloadable clinical tools, reflective prompts, and APA-referenced reading lists. The materials are designed to be useful in clinical practice, not just in assessment.
Training for every clinician
Find the program
that fits where
you are.
Whether you are a therapist building a sexual health specialty, a physician looking for accredited CME, or a pelvic health PT filling the gaps in your training, start here.
The flagship program
The sex therapy certification program that closes the gap.
Twelve sequentially structured modules, cohort-based consultation, and a final competency evaluation. This is the only Canadian post-graduate program designed to produce clinicians who are fully trained in the assessment and treatment of sexual dysfunction across the full clinical and population spectrum.
This is not a workshop series. Certification is earned through demonstrated clinical knowledge: ethical reasoning, diagnostic fluency, and applied clinical judgment. Not course completion.
Designed for registered psychologists, counsellors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists. Prerequisites: master's-level training in a counselling-related field and current registration with a provincial regulatory body.
The program is structured in two sections followed by cohort consultation and a competency evaluation. Section 1 builds the ethical, attitudinal, and cultural foundation. Section 2 applies it to clinical assessment, diagnosis, and intervention. Both sections must be completed before consultation begins.
Graduates are eligible for the Canadian Certified Sex Therapist (CCST™) designation, issued by Transcend Training Institute Inc. and designed to meet the proposed competency standards of the Canadian College of Sex Therapy.
- 01Ethics, professional identity, and regulatory frameworks
- 02Cultural influences on sexuality
- 03GSERD: Gender, sexuality, eroticism, and relational diversity
- 04Trauma-informed treatment
- 05Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR)
- 06Developmental biology and socialization
- 07Anatomy, physiology, and neuropsychology
- 08Theory and research
- 09Diagnostic criteria
- 10Assessment and history taking
- 11Collaboration and medical treatment
- 12Techniques and interventions
Not ready for the full certification? Introduction to Sex Therapy (~8 hours) and Foundations of Sex Therapy (~16 hours) are designed as standalone programs and as structured on-ramps to the full certification pathway.
View all therapist courses →The credential
A national designation,
built toward a national college.
The CCST™ is awarded to clinicians who complete the full certification program: twelve modules, cohort consultation, and a competency evaluation. It reflects demonstrated clinical competency in the assessment and treatment of sexual health concerns, not hours logged.
Canada has no national credentialing body for sex therapists. The Canadian College of Sex Therapy is being established as an independent, non-profit professional organization to fill that gap. Transcend Training Institute Inc. holds and issues the CCST™ mark in the interim, and will transfer it to the College once the College is formally established.
Transcend Training Institute Inc. has applied for the CCST™ certification mark and is authorized to issue the credential to clinicians who complete the full certification program and its consultation requirements.
Once the Canadian College of Sex Therapy is formally established as a non-profit professional organization, ownership of the CCST™ mark transfers to it. The College then governs the designation, its registry, and its continuing education standards.
Clinicians who earn the CCST™ through Transcend Training Institute will be eligible to apply for grandfathered recognition by the College. Your training will be recognized as meeting its competency standards. You will not be asked to repeat the certification process.
Grandfathered members will be required to pay the College's annual membership fee and to maintain the continuing education requirements the College establishes. This is consistent with how regulated professional colleges operate across other health disciplines in Canada.
Clinicians who choose not to apply for College membership, or who do not maintain it, will no longer be authorized to use the CCST™ designation once the College assumes ownership of the mark. A certification mark belongs to the credentialing body, not to the individual in perpetuity. Use of the post-nominal requires a current credential.
CCST™ is a certification mark applied for by Transcend Training Institute Inc., pending registration with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. The Canadian College of Sex Therapy is in development and is not yet an incorporated body. Details of the transfer, membership terms, and continuing education requirements will be confirmed in writing to all certified clinicians before any transition takes effect.
What clinical competency requires
Effective sexual health practice draws on six distinct domains. Most clinicians have none of them.
Most CE in this area offers fragments. A weekend workshop on sensate focus. A webinar on desire discrepancy. Effective sexual health practice draws on diagnostic knowledge, trauma fluency, relational theory, neuropsychology, anatomy, pharmacology, and cultural awareness, simultaneously, in session, with a client who may never have spoken about this to anyone before.
Every program offered here is built around these competency domains. The certification builds all six from the ground up. The CE courses, CME series, and physio CPD each address the domains most relevant to their audience.
What makes this different
Evidence-based. Trauma-informed.
Built for working clinicians.
Not a survey of topics. Not a certificate of attendance. Every program is built around clinical competencies that translate directly to practice, the kind of training that changes how you sit with a client the next day.
Evidence-based throughout
Grounded in peer-reviewed research, DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 frameworks, and current sex therapy literature. Theoretical models are taught in critical context, including their limitations.
Trauma-informed by design
Safety, pacing, and nervous system awareness are embedded in the pedagogy. You learn through the same lens you will use clinically, with your most complex presentations.
GSERD-inclusive throughout
Gender, sexuality, eroticism, and relational diversity are integrated across all programs. Affirmative clinical practice is a foundation, not a supplementary module.
Asynchronous and flexible
Designed for registered clinicians with full caseloads. Complete modules on your own schedule. Live consultation components accommodate working practitioners.
Interdisciplinary scope
Covers pelvic floor physiotherapy, pharmacological treatment, and referral pathways. Designed for clinicians who collaborate across disciplines, not just receive referrals.
Competency evaluated
The certification includes cohort consultation and a final competency evaluation. Certification reflects demonstrated clinical knowledge, not time spent on a learning platform.
Not sure where
to start?
If you are a therapist new to sexual health, the introductory course is the right place. Ready to specialize? The full certification is built for you. Physicians start with the CME series. Pelvic health PTs, there is a program designed around what your training left out. We are happy to help you find the right fit.
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