FEATURED AUTHOR

Angela Skurtu

St. Louis Marriage Therapy, LLC

Angela Skurtu is a speaker, author, and president of St. Louis Marriage Therapy, LLC. She is a Missouri Licensed Marriage Therapist and Nationally Certified Sex Therapist through AASECT. Her recent book "Pre-Marital Counseling: A Guide for Clinicians" (Routledge, 2016) discusses the predictive factors of marital success, 5 habits for healthy relationships, and how to keep the spark in the relationship long term.

Subjects: Education, Health and Social Care, Psychological Science

Biography

I am a speaker, author, couples therapist, sex therapist and business owner. After years of working with couples in sexless marriages, I started pointing my efforts toward pre-marital couples. In my sessions, I noticed there were common themes that the sexless marriages shared-lack of initiation from both parties, little or no intentionality about eroticism, and lack of playful communication, to name a few. When these factors are combined with years of disappointment and resentment, it became a very difficult issue to resolve.

That is why I am so interested in offering premarital counseling. In the beginning of the relationship, couples have a lot of energy and openness to learn. There are also common misunderstandings about sex that can be corrected at the beginning of the relationship. I see what I do as adult sex education. When you offer this education in the beginning of the relationship, you can help couples create healthier, open sexual relationships. You can also help couples learn how to maintain their desire longer term.

As a writer and blogger, I have contributed to various publications such as the Huffington Post, Good Therapy, Women’s Day, Psychology Today, Everyday Health and my personal blog. I love contributing through interviews or submitting my perspectives on different sexual and relationship health topics to various publications.

As a speaker, I have several popular topics I am asked to speak about including, “Adult Sex Education;” “Treating Affairs;” “Keeping Desire in Long Term Relationships;” “How to Maintain a Work/Life Balance;” “How to Offer Effective Premarital Counseling.” Visit my website at www.TherapistinStLouis.com for any media or speaking requests.

Education

M.Ed., Couples and Family Counseling, 2009, UO

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

Sexual Health; Sex Therapy; Sex Education; Relationship Health; Affairs, Marriage Health; Positive Psychology; Anxiety and Depression; Systems Theory

Personal Interests

I love to sing, dance, hike, bike, and have fun. I love spending time with family and friends. I love exercise and the outdoors. I definitely love to write. I have been blogging a lot since I wrote my first book.