Our Experience
Our Calgary, AB, office has a dedicated staff of sex therapists, psychotherapists, and marriage counsellors helping people fulfill their personal lives, marriages or intimate relationships.
Our Therapists
Dr. David Hersh sadly passed away on January 28, 2024. He was one of North America’s noted Sex Therapists. Please contact Jodi Sirota.
Dr. Hersh practiced as a Psychotherapist since 1966, was a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (1969-2019), and a Sex Therapist in private practice since 1979.
He is from Brooklyn, New York, and completed his college and university studies at American International College, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in 1963. He then received a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Springfield College in 1964, and did doctoral studies at Boston University from 1964 – 1966.
From 1979 – 1984, he was trained, supervised and mentored in Sex Therapy by Dr. Wardell Pomeroy of the Kinsey Institute. During these years, he did an internship in Sex Therapy at the San Francisco Sexual Health Care Clinic, received a doctorate in 1986, and practiced in San Francisco from 1979 – 1990.
Dr. Hersh lived and practiced in Canada since 1990, where he became a Canadian citizen in 2006.
Jodi Sirota is Director of Serenity House Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centre, and Senior Clinician with Sirota Psychological Services. She has been a trained General Counsellor and sex therapist for over 30 years.
She was trained in a Sex Therapy course at the University of Guelph, with Dr. Peggy Kleinplatz, which included a Sexual Attitude Restructuring program. Jodi has also been trained and mentored in sex therapy by Dr. Hersh, and has consulted with him since 2009, to help couples and individuals with a variety of sexual challenges including intimacy, lack of desire and sexually-related communication. She has also worked with all forms of sexual trauma and negative sexual experiences.
She can be reached by phone at: 403-874-2250.
Barbara Ochsner sees clients in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT #96727). She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from San Francisco State University and a Master’s Degree in Psychology from Saybrook University. She has also done counselling with the Pacific Institute program AgeSong, for elderly people who need to be in an assisted living environment.
She has been seeing clients since 1980, working with people who present with problems of socialization, communication, and finding and developing relationships. She also works with sexual issues and how they impact relationships. She works in consultation with many therapists in the Bay Area including Dr. David Hersh, Dr. Seth Prosterman and Dr. Charles Moser.
She can be reached by phone at: 415-665-6993, or her website: Barbara Ochsner.
Our Consultants
Susan Mackintosh is our Nurse Consultant. She joins us following her recent retirement from a 35-year career in nursing. Her career roles have included Clinician and Instructor in ICU, and Emergency and Coronary Care. She has been a specialist in Burn Care Nursing and Chronic Disease Management, specifically in Congestive Heart Failure, which provide her with varied experience and a broad perspective. She also has a long history of community teaching. She brings to our team a special awareness of the needs of our patients.
Linda Ford is our editor and researcher. She has over forty-five years experience in the medical field as a medical and gynecological assistant, phlebotomist, transcriptionist and medical and sexual editor. She has had over 100 hours of coursework in human sexuality, and has staffed the San Francisco Sexual Information (SFSI) switchboard.
Our Advisory Board
Dr. Charles Moser is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Sexual Medicine at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, California. He also maintains a private practice in Internal Medicine and Sexual Medicine; he is Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and as a Sexologist. He has written over 40 scientific papers, and he has served as Dr. Hersh’s medical consultant for over thirty years.
His complete CV can be found here: Charles Moser, PhD, MD Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Peggy Kleinplatz is Associate Professor of Medicine and Clinical Professor of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. She is a clinical psychologist, Board Certified in Sex Education and as a Diplomate and Supervisor of Sex Therapy. Since 1983, she has been teaching Human Sexuality at the School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, where she received the Prix d’Excellence in 2000. She is Chair of Certifications for the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists. She is in clinical practice and deals with sexual issues in individual, couple and group therapy. Her work focuses on optimal sexuality, eroticism and transformation, particularly in the elderly and other marginalized populations.
She may be reached at her online page: Peggy J. Kleinplatz, PhD
Dr. Seth Prosterman is one of the most respected clinical sexologists and psychotherapists in San Francisco, California. He has maintained a successful practice in sex therapy and relationship counselling since 1980 and has been the President of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. He is Board Certified by the American College of Sexologists and the American Board of Sexology and is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist. He has served as Dr. Hersh’s clinical consultant for over 40 years.
He may be reached at: SexTherapy.org.
Dr. John Lambert (3/29/44 – 6/28/15) was distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mohawk College and McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He was a Board Certified Sexologist by the American College of Sexologists. He provided an academic perspective and orientation to our centre. He taught human sexuality to physicians, psychiatrists, nursing students and others during his career of thirty seven years until he retired June, 2009. He was a well known public speaker in Southern Ontario for many years. Dr. Lambert and Dr. Hersh were colleagues on numerous projects for over 40 years. They created and maintained Sexology Netline, an early entry into online, sexual information.
Our Mission, Vision & Values