Dealing with low sexual desire?
Struggling to communicate?
Need help talking about sex or trauma?
Considering an open relationship?
Sex Therapy for Couples Struggling With Desire, Disconnection, or Intimacy Issues
When Desire Feels Mismatched, Communication Breaks Down, and Intimacy Starts to Fade
Reconnect, Improve, Strengthen, and Enrich Your Relationships
— At Home and At Work —
Trauma-informed relationship therapy and coaching
Professional training for individuals, couples, and organizations.
Welcome to RISE
RISE Relationship Therapy & Training Services exists for individuals and couples who are tired of circling the same patterns, and are ready for real, lasting change.
We specialize in the complex, often unspoken struggles that live at the intersection of relationships, sexuality, attachment, and trauma.
Whether you’re navigating emotional disconnection, mismatched desire, sexual anxiety, performance concerns, betrayal, or long-standing communication breakdowns, our work is designed to meet you with both compassion and clarity.
Our approach is deeply trauma-informed and grounded in evidence-based research, drawing from attachment theory, sex therapy, nervous system regulation, and contemporary couples therapy models.
But more than that, it’s practical, structured, and intentional. We don’t just help you understand why things feel hard, we help you learn how to do things differently.
At RISE, you’ll find a nonjudgmental, intelligent space where difficult conversations about sex, power, shame, conflict, and desire are not avoided or rushed. Instead, they’re handled with care, skill, and a clear roadmap forward.
Clients come to us feeling stuck, disconnected, or quietly hopeless, and leave with stronger emotional safety, clearer communication, renewed intimacy, and a deeper sense of confidence in themselves and their relationships.
This work isn’t surface-level. It’s thoughtful, research-driven, and designed for people who want meaningful change - not quick fixes.
If you’re ready to rebuild connection, intimacy, and trust from the inside out, you’re in the right place.
Valerie McDonnell, LCSW
Founder & Lead Clinician
My mission is simple: helping couples feel emotionally safe, sexually connected, and fully alive in their relationships again.
For more than a decade, I've specialized in sex and couples therapy, trauma recovery, and attachment-based healing, working with individuals and couples ready to change long-standing patterns of conflict, emotional distance, or sexual disconnection.
RISE was built through both professional expertise and personal experience. My own history with trauma and PTSD shaped how I understand the nervous system, attachment, and intimacy, and how deeply I respect the courage it takes to heal. I know firsthand that insight alone isn't enough. Lasting change requires structure, safety, and a clear process that supports the body and the relationship, not just the mind.
Traditional therapy too often leaves couples in open-ended conversations without the guidance or direction needed to create real momentum. At RISE, we offer a structured, outcome-driven alternative by integrating trauma-informed care, attachment science, sex therapy, and nervous system regulation into a guided process with clear outcomes: emotional safety, regulated communication, and restored intimacy.
This is not surface-level coaching or indefinite talk therapy. It is focused, integrative work for people ready to stop repeating painful relational patterns and start building relationships rooted in trust, desire, and lasting fulfillment.
The Client Journey
1.
CLARIFY THE PROBLEM
2.
DISMANTLE THE BARRIERS TO CONNECTION
3.
CREATE LASTING CHANGE
4.
BUILD A SECURE, CONNECTED RELATIONSHIP
