Are you a sex-positive therapist offering telehealth in California?

Yes. Kelly Howard is a sex-positive, trauma-informed psychotherapist offering telehealth sex and relationship therapy to clients throughout California via secure video. Based in the East Bay, Kelly is licensed to practice across the entire state of California.

Are you an LGBTQ+ affirming therapist?

Yes. Riverstone Sex and Relationship Therapy is a GSRD-affirming practice — affirming across Gender, Sexuality, and Relationship Diversity. Kelly Howard identifies as pansexual and gender non-binary and brings both lived experience and clinical training to this work.

Do you work with non-monogamous and polyamorous clients?

Yes. Riverstone Sex and Relationship Therapy specializes in non-monogamy, polyamory, and relationship structure exploration. Clients at every stage are welcome — newly curious, actively practicing, navigating polycule dynamics, or restructuring.

Are you a kink-aware and BDSM-affirming therapist?

Yes. Riverstone is a kink-aware, BDSM-affirming therapy practice. Kink interests are not pathologized or treated as symptoms. Individuals and couples navigating kink dynamics, power exchange relationships, and BDSM concerns are welcome.

Do you offer a free initial consultation?

Yes. A free 20-minute video consultation is available for all prospective clients. There is no obligation to continue and no fee is charged.

Do you accept insurance?

No, insurance is not accepted directly. This is a private-pay practice. A Superbill can be provided for out-of-network insurance reimbursement. Sliding scale fees are available for clients who need financial accommodation.

What are your session fees?

Individual sessions are $190 for 50 minutes. Relationship sessions are $220 for 50 minutes. Sliding scale spots are available from $130 to $190 for individuals and $160 to $220 for relationships, with a commitment to weekly sessions.

Do you offer discernment counseling?

Yes. Discernment counseling is offered for couples and multi-partner relationships uncertain whether to continue their relationship. It is a short-term structured process of three to five sessions focused on gaining clarity rather than working on the relationship itself.

Do you offer conscious uncoupling?

Yes. Facilitated conscious uncoupling is offered using Katherine Woodward Thomas's framework, particularly for non-traditional relationships, polyamorous partnerships, chosen family, and non-nuclear co-parenting arrangements.

What areas of California do you serve?

Telehealth therapy is available to clients throughout the entire state of California including the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, and all other California communities.

Is sex therapy talk therapy or does it involve physical contact?

Sex therapy as practiced by licensed mental health professionals is entirely talk-based. There is no physical contact, no demonstrations, and no observation of sexual activity. All sessions at Riverstone are conducted via secure telehealth video.

What therapeutic approaches do you use?

An integrative approach is used including the Gottman Method, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Gestalt therapy, CBT, DBT, and Harm Reduction Integrative Therapy (HRIT) for clients incorporating psychedelics into their healing.

Sex & Relationship Therapy Services | California Telehealth — Riverstone Sex & Relationship Therapy

Sex & relationship therapy for real, complex lives

Whether you're navigating desire, identity, relationship structure, or a meaningful transition — you deserve a therapist who doesn't flinch. I work with individuals and relationships of all configurations throughout California via Telehealth.

SEX & INTIMACY

When sex and desire feel complicated
Intimacy is rarely simple — and the gap between what we want and what we're experiencing can be one of the loneliest places to sit. This work is grounded, non-judgmental, and deeply affirming of your full erotic self.

When partners have different levels of interest in sex, it can breed resentment, shame, and distance. Therapy helps you understand what's driving the gap — and find a path that honors both people's needs.
Whether you're new to kink or navigating it within a trusted relationship, this is a space where your interests are treated as legitimate and worth exploring with care — not pathologized.
If sex has quietly faded from your relationship, you're far from alone — and you're not broken. Many long-term partners experience a natural shift away from the spontaneous desire that's so often portrayed as the norm. In reality, responsive desire — arousal that emerges in the right context rather than appearing out of nowhere — is just as healthy and valid.
Together, we can explore what's getting in the way (stress, resentment, routine, past hurts) and what conditions help desire come alive for each of you. Drawing on research-backed frameworks like Emily Nagoski's Dual Control Model, we'll work on building a shared sexual context that actually fits your real lives — not a media ideal.
Informed by Nagoski, E. — Come As You Are & Come Together

IDENTITY & EXPLORATION

Exploring who you are
Questions about gender, sexuality, and how you want to love can be exhilarating, confusing, and everything in between. I offer a curious, affirming space to explore without pressure toward any particular outcome.

Whether you're questioning, newly out, or somewhere in a long journey with gender, this is a space to explore your experience at your own pace — with a therapist who is gender non-binary themselves.
Sexuality is rarely linear. Therapy can offer a private space to explore attraction, identity, and what those mean for you — free from external pressure or expectation.
Curious about non-monogamy, polyamory, relationship anarchy, swinging, open relationships, throuple & closed V’s, conscious monogamy, or other relationship models?

I help individuals and partners think through values, boundaries, and desires with honesty and care.

RELATIONSHIP NAVIGATION

Relationships in motion
Relationships — of all shapes and sizes — require ongoing tending. I work with dyads, polycules, and multi-partner households navigating the full range of what building a life together actually looks like.

Opening up, closing, restructuring — major shifts in a relationship's form deserve thoughtful support. I help partners move through transitions in ways that honor everyone involved.
Not sure whether to stay, work on things, or part ways? Discernment counseling is a structured, short-term process designed to help you make a clear, confident decision — rather than staying in limbo.
Whether you live in a poly household, co-parenting structure, or chosen family arrangement, the relational complexity is real. I help households build shared agreements and navigate conflict with intention.
Based on Katherine Woodward Thomas's framework, conscious uncoupling helps separating partners end their relationship with dignity, care, and intention — especially important when children, shared communities, or ongoing co-parenting are involved.
For relationships wanting to invest in their foundation, I use the Gottman Method — including assessments based on the Sound Relationship House model— to identify patterns, build communication tools, and create lasting repair. This evidence-based framework is woven into the relational work I do across all specialty areas.

Not sure which of these fits what you're going through? That's okay — most people aren't. Reach out for a free, no-obligation consultation and we'll figure it out together.

Schedule a free consult

Sex & relationship therapy for real, complex lives

Desire discrepancy

Kink & BDSM dynamics

Reigniting intimacy in long-term relationships

Gender expansion

Sexual orientation

Relationship philosophy

Relationship transitions

Discernment counseling

Non-nuclear households

Conscious Uncoupling

Gottman Method and the Sound Relationship House